Colorado Goalie Phillip Grubauer 'Focused On Winning In Every Situation' As Avalanche Prepare To Face Golden Knights In Game 3

DENVER (CBS4) - The Colorado Avalanche was being outplayed by the Vegas Golden Knights and facing their first loss of the playoffs -- until Phillip Grubauer had the last word.

The Avalanche beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime as Mikko Rantanen scored a power-play goal, but Grubauer stole the show as he had 39 saves to take a 2-0 lead in the second-round playoff series.

"Grubi bailed us out today. He had a really, really good game," Rantanen said. "He's basically the reason why we got to OT."

The Vezina Award finalist was peppered with shots throughout the night as the Golden Knights outshot the Avs 31-12 in the final two periods and 41-25 overall. Grubauer stopped several breakaways including this one from Alex Tuch.

"I'm focused on winning in every situation out there, then the next situation and the next situation after," Grubauer said. "Yeah, it's nice to win but it doesn't matter who's in net at that moment."

Grubauer's 39 saves were a playoff-high for the goaltender, and he's also won 10 straight postseason contests going back to the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He's 6-0 in the playoffs and has tied a franchise record of six straight playoff wins set by Mario Gosselin with Quebec in 1987.

"I thought his performance was exceptional," Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said.

The Avalanche will look for two more solid performances as the series shifts to T-Mobile Arena for Games 3 and 4.