From the coach to his teammates, the Avalanche has publicly remained steadfast in support of embattled goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.
He delivered Thursday night, authoring the best performance by an Avs goaltender this season against the No. 1 team in the NHL standings. Georgiev stopped the final 27 shots he faced in a 1-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
“It’s important. He played well, played well enough for us to win the game,” Avs defenseman Josh Manson said. “Made some huge saves. We just couldn’t get one by the other guy.
“I think we just expect those guys to play the way we know they can play. I think (Thursday) night (Georgiev) was really above and beyond. That was like elite, elite goaltending. If we get close to that almost consistently, we’re going to be in a great place.”
The game should be a significant boost for Georgiev’s confidence, but its impact on those around him shouldn’t be understated, either. Colorado as a team has played well in some of Georgiev’s starts, but both he and Justus Annunen struggled at the start of this season.
Annunen found his game first and has put together a run of solid or better starts. He started six of the eight games before Thursday night, with Kaapo Kahkonen getting a night in net as well.
Georgiev’s night, like the rest of the team, did not start well when the Jets scored 66 seconds into the game. But he shut the highest-scoring team in the NHL out after that, including a key save on the power play late in the first period and a highlight-reel stop in the third to keep the Avs in it.
The competition isn’t getting any easier. Colorado faces the second-best team by points percentage and the third-best offense in the league Saturday night when Carolina comes to Ball Arena. Another top-five offense is here next Friday when Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals pay a visit.
But Georgiev will, starting against the Hurricanes, get his chance to take back the net.
“He was awesome last game, gave us a great chance to win,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “That’s what we said — we’re going to play a rested goalie. We’re going to play the goalie we feel gives us the best chance to win. Justus has had some great starts and strung some games together, and (Georgiev) deserves the same respect.
“We’ve got to get the top end out of every guy that we have. Especially now — it’s more important now. When you’re missing anyone out of your lineup, it becomes more important that everyone else plays well, and the reality of it is probably always with the netminding position.”
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Georgiev’s first six starts left him last in the NHL in goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck. Even after the Jets finished with 2.96 expected goals and Georgiev yielded only one, he’s still 50th out of 50 goalies with five or more games played.
Everything at the start of the season is a small sample size, and variance is greater with goaltenders than any other position. But Georgiev can now say he’s in the black over his past three games after the first four were bad. The first two games in this stretch were baby steps, while his night in Winnipeg looked more significant.
Bednar and his teammates said it was mental more than physical during his struggles. It was also a boost for them to see Georgiev show what he did against the Jets.
“We can be as confident as we want, but we need results,” Avs defenseman Devon Toews said. “If it’s the same results, it’s tough to play for him, it’s tough for us to play in front of him. Him playing a good game was a good start, and we need that as consistently as we can get.”
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