Q: What time is it at Ball Arena right now?
A: Four past Georgiev.
Getting old, isn’t it? The jokes. The jabs. The touchdowns on the scoreboard at Chopper Circle. All of it.
Few human beings right now divide burgundy and blue hearts like goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, who got tagged for six goals in a 7-4 home loss to Dallas late Sunday night.
Only the Avalanche can save Georgie now. Because it’s looking as if he can’t save them. Not by himself. Not consistently, at any rate.
Colorado’s No. 1 net-minder is back in a mini-slump, one in which his defensemen have proven to be reliable accomplices. If the Stars game was a dumpster fire on wheels, his blue-liners conspired to light the match and cut the brakes. Dallas peppered the Colorado crease with 37 shots, 23 of which were charted by the site NaturalStatTrick.com as “high-danger” attempts. (In layman’s terms, “high-danger” means what it says on the box. Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad chances of being saved.)
Over his last 138 minutes between the pipes, Georgiev’s given up 14 goals and saved 83.3% of the shots fired his way. Many of which can be explained by the “high-danger” stat noted above.
That said, if I’m Avs coach Jared Bednar, I’m not sounding any fire alarms unless Four-giev — sorry, sorry, come on, it’s a good one, admit it — somehow gets lit up against the Wild at Ball Arena on Tuesday night. And Bednar sure sounded Monday afternoon as if he was going to roll Georgiev right back out there. Scars and all.
“I had a good chat with Georgie this morning,” he said. “And I think his head’s in the right place, and (we) talked through a few things. And I mean, I’ve got a lot of belief in Georgie because I’ve seen him play real well. I’ve seen him win games on his own. I’ve seen him steal games. I’ve seen him win games for us.
“And he’s gone through some ups and downs this season. So just clearing your head and focusing on the next task, which is (the Wild on Tuesday) night, and sort of just taking it one shot at a time, for me, is a good approach. Not to let sort of past good or bad performances sort of linger with you. It’s all about staying in the moment. And I like where his head’s at (Monday) morning. And yeah, I think he’s gonna be good. He’s gonna be good (vs. Minnesota) and have a bounce-back game for us.”
Man, you’d hope. The Avs have been cycling in 24-year-old backup Justus Annunen against non-playoff competition in an attempt to get some wind under Georgie’s wings and some sanity into his workload. But the Wild, on paper, sets up as a potential get-right game for Bednar’s presumed No. 1 goalie for the Avs’ playoff opener.
For one thing, Minnesota comes to town having scored an average of 2.4 goals over its last eight tilts. For another, the Wild have put up just 1.67 goals over its first three meetings against the Avs this season.
For yet another, I don’t think Bednar trusts Annunen in a postseason setting, period. Unless Georgie, or the hockey gods, give Colorado absolutely zero choice in the matter.
“Goaltending is usually a team effort,” Annunen told me Monday after practice.
“Yeah. I think (Georgiev) had some unreal saves there (against Dallas). And so, yeah, I think he actually played pretty well (Sunday).”
Early on? Heck, yeah. That said, No. 40’s still prone to random wanderings outside the crease. He still gets caught out of position, instincts writing checks his quickness can’t quite cash. It’s not Georgie’s crime that the front office didn’t sign for, or swing a trade for, some veteran insurance in the net. Just his burden.
“I feel confident in both of our guys,” Bednar continued. “We’ve had some ups and downs in the season, like every player does — the goalies are not separated from that. But yeah, (in) the most important time of the year, you know, cream rises to the top. So like we should see everyone’s best performances here down the stretch and in the playoffs. That’s what we’re hoping for.”
Bednar is riding that horse ’til it bucks him. I fear it might, but Tuesday looks like one heck of a chance to test the theory. The only way to beat a punch line is to beat the narrative behind it to a pulp.
The Avs have allowed four goals or more in 35 games already. Context: They gave up 27 in ’22-23 and 25 in the regular-season two years ago. Perspective: In the 41 games since Jan. 1, per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Avs have given up 9.27 “high-danger” chances per contest. In the spring of ’22, over the 44 games from Jan. 1- April 8, the Avs surrendered 9.59 “high-danger” opportunities per tilt to the opposition. If Darcy Kuemper and Pavel Francouz “had it so much better” in front of them, based on the metrics, that “better” wasn’t by much.
“I’m just focusing on my job. I’m going one day at a time,” Annunen reflected with a quiet shrug. “It’s the same. It doesn’t matter what time it is.”
If it’s four past Georgiev, he’d best be getting loose.
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