When you are a team that has a high-powered offense like the Colorado Avalanche, there is no doubt that you are going to give up a lot of scoring chances.
As such, said team needs to have a goaltender that can come up with the big saves when needed. In the 1980s, the Edmonton Oilers had Grant Fuhr and the New York Islanders had Billy Smith, both are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Avalanche do not have a future Hall of Fame goaltender between the pipes. They have Alexandar Georgiev.
Georgiev, 28, is off to a rough start in his team’s first two games. As of this writing (Monday, October 14), he is 0-1 with a 7.75 goals-against average and a .680 save percentage.
To make matters worse, Georgiev was pulled in both of his starts. He allowed five goals on 16 shots in a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights and then allowed three goals on nine shots to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
While it is still very early in the season, Georgiev’s play thus far is alarming for a few reasons. For starters, it looks like he is not playing with a lot of confidence.
Georgiev is letting pucks beat him cleanly, is getting caught out of position, and is not controlling his rebounds. These are all signs that a goaltender is fighting the puck.
Secondly, he does not put up great numbers for a starting goaltender in general. Yes, he certainly wins a lot of games, but that is due to play and offense in front of him.
Last season, he finished the year with a 3.02 goals-against average, a .897 save percentage, and two shutouts. Not only are those numbers not great for a starting goaltender, but they are not great numbers for a goaltender in general.
As such, the fact that he is already 0-2 with a bloated goals-against average and a very low save percentage does not bode well for his numbers come the end of the season. Georgiev may end up getting a lot of wins, but based on his play last season and his play early on this season, his other performance indicators may not be good again this season.
What is also alarming is that the Avalanche do not have the quality goaltending that is needed behind Georgiev. Behind Georgiev are Justus Annunen and Kaapo Kahkonen, who they just claimed off of waivers.
Annunen, 24, is currently (as of Monday, October 14) 0-0-1 with a 4.69 goals-against average and a .765 save percentage. Kahkonen spent last season with the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils, posting a 7-24-3 record with a 3.64 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage.
When it comes to Georgiev, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters that Georgiev is still their number one goaltender and that he plans on sticking with him moving forward.
“I get that there’s a level of frustration, but (Georgiev), he’s our guy, he’s our starter, right? And I have full faith that he has the ability, the talent, (and) the work ethic to bounce back and win us hockey games. It’s a mental game (for him) right now, right? So we’ll regroup and then we have other areas … that we have to get better at,” Bednar said.
With the confidence of his head coach, Georgiev must be better for his hockey club. The team plays in a tight Central Division with contending teams like the Dallas Stars (3-0), Winnipeg Jets (3-0), and even the Nashville Predators (0-2), all of which have great goaltenders in Jake Oettinger, Connor Hellebuyck, and Juuse Saros, respectively.
It is time for Georgiev to step up to the plate and start stopping pucks with regularity. The quicker he does that, the quicker the Avalanche will get back on track and the better they will be as a whole.
ITR 31: Let Them Fight – Inside The Rink
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