Reading about jewelry helped ease the mind. A lot was being asked of Alexandar Georgiev. Backup goalie Pavel Francouz had just sustained his second injury of the season, forcing the Colorado Avalanche to depend on their top netminder even more than usual.

Georgiev needed to learn from the first time. This is the 27-year-old’s first season as an NHL starter, so when Francouz got hurt in late December, the increased physical and mental demands challenged him. Losses stacked up in early January as Georgiev started 12 consecutive games. In the seven games after the holiday break, his save percentage was .877, the only major blip in an otherwise impressive season.

“I felt like he was putting too much pressure on himself,” coach Jared Bednar said.

So when Francouz went down again, Georgiev made an adjustment. “Try to reset between the games and think about something else that’s not hockey,” he said. “Get a nice distraction. Watch a series or read a book. Just do something else.”

Georgiev leaned on the hobby that he has cultivated for himself over the last few years. He opened a book. The latest selection was “The Cartiers,” Francesca Cartier Brickell’s researched origin story of the jewelry empire that her ancestors built starting in French Revolution-era Paris. As described by Goodreads, it “reveals never-before-told dramas, romances, intrigues, betrayals and more.”

Starting eight of the next nine games, Georgiev led Colorado to a 6-1-1 mark with a .929 save percentage.

“That’s my fifth book (of 2023). And it’s a long one,” the goalie said.

In a Ball Arena jumbotron segment two months ago, he said his New Year’s Resolution was to read 24. “I decided I’m not going to have a hard goal. Because some books take eight hours to read. This one is probably 24 hours. So I’ll see how it goes.”

While establishing himself as a trusted presence in his debut season for the Avalanche, Georgiev has added to his already wide-ranging list of reading material. The Bulgarian-born, Moscow-raised bookworm has a cat’s curiosity. Sometimes he selects newsworthy contemporary topics. A few years ago during the emergence of cryptocurrencies, he read a book about Bitcoin. Other times, he chooses more far-reaching, intellectual works. He was fascinated by “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” by Yuval Noah Harari.

The Post asked Georgiev to share a reading list of books that have interested him or meant something to him. Here are five others he discussed.

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”: When he was four months old, Georgiev’s mom, Natalia, started reading him tales by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin until Georgiev fell asleep. “He was quiet and listened carefully,” she said via a translated WhatsApp message. “At 6, he read pretty good. He knew many poems by heart.”

Around that age, Georgiev began to learn English in school. He read the Harry Potter books in Russian, then he asked for an English copy as a present when he was 8. In a new language, he started them again, working in reverse order. They were the first books he read in English.

“It’s very easy English to read,” Georgiev said. “It was always kind of the dream to play in America, so you knew you needed to know English. … That was one of those (book) franchises that you really got into it. I remember all the books hadn’t come out yet. I remember I would wait for the release.”

He grew up consuming the series as each new installment was released. Then he watched the movies.

As for his favorite in the series, Georgiev had to stretch his memory for the title. “Probably the one where they get the Marauder’s Map,” he said. “They start exploring. His uncle is out there hunting him.”

“1984”: By the time Georgiev was a teenager, he spoke good English and watched cartoons in English. During summer vacation, students received lists of books to read for the next school year. That’s when Georgiev became more fascinated with literary classics, mowing through the lists. His parents remember him being especially compelled by Anton Chekhov’s writing.

A couple of years ago, Georgiev read George Orwell’s dystopian classic for the first time. he identified it as a favorite after thinking for a day about his selections for this list.

“Obviously you hear about it on all kinds of lists,” he said. “Just makes you more aware of what information you are given. And just a good story, too.”

“Go Up for Glory”: A few months after Bill Russell died in July 2022, Georgiev picked up the NBA icon’s 1968 memoir.

Georgiev enjoyed basketball as much as hockey when he was growing up, but “I was not blessed with NBA height,” he said. “I was playing a little bit of street ball.” He remembers games such as 21 and к-о-з-е-л, the Russian iteration of H-O-R-S-E or P-I-G. The only difference is that the five-letter word Georgiev used as the game parameter translates to “goat” in English.

In the evenings, Georgiev would catch up on highlights from both the NHL and NBA.

“It’s about ’50s basketball. Life in America as a Black person, about the NBA back in the day,” Georgiev said of Russell’s book. “They were just kind of starting the league. No Black players, really. So really interesting about life in America in those days. All kinds of racism (Russell) had to deal with.”

“Greenlights”: “As an audio book,” Georgiev would like to specify. “Matthew McConaughey’s book. He reads it. He’s so entertaining, it’s kind of hard to explain. … He’s reading it and then he adds notes, side notes, all kinds of stuff.”

Georgiev appreciates audio books occasionally because “we’re on the road so much,” and listening to a story is an easy way to pass time while relaxing or doing other things. McConaughey’s 2020 book takes the cake thanks to the movie star’s entertaining charisma in recalling stories from his life, Georgiev said.

He was especially interested when McConaughey recounted stories of the formative year he spent in rural Australia as a lonely exchange student, and by the inner machinations of Hollywood outlined by McConaughey while discussing his career.

“How he was playing a certain kind of role as a movie star. He was this romantic, hot guy in rom-coms,” Georgiev said. “And then he wanted to play other roles, but nobody would take him. So he just said, ‘I’m not playing anything until I get something,’ and then he was unemployed for a few years.”

“Can’t Hurt Me”: Georgiev approached his list with a level of self-awareness about being a professional athlete.

“I have a lot of not-as-interesting-to-other-people sports stuff,” he said. “Anything that can help me in hockey. … Motivational stuff. Nutritional.”

The one selection from this genre that Georgiev allowed to crack his list was the motivational book by David Goggins, an ultra-endurance athlete and retired Navy SEAL. The reason it stands out for Georgiev is timing. He read it during the 2020 COVID-19 season. “I had a really rough stretch with hockey, and not a fun time being in the bubble,” he said. “This helped me for sure when you start to feel sorry for yourself.”

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