The Colorado Avalanche seem to have righted the ship over the last four games, all wins, and seem to have found a goalie for the now in Justus Annunen. The young Finn has stepped up when the team needed it, and the rest of the team has followed, playing much better defensively over the last four games.
The first four games were atrocious defensively and Alexandar Georgiev was in the starter’s crease for all four. The Avs won the fifth game while the Bulgarian minded the net, but he wasn’t stellar in that game either.
Georgiev has not allowed less than three goals yet this season and hasn’t had a save percentage higher than .861 in those same five games. Those numbers are not acceptable for a starting goalie in the NHL. He hasn’t faced a ton of shots either. The Islanders were able to get 36 shots on goal against the Avs, but Georgiev didn’t see more than 25 in his four other games played.
This isn’t all Georgiev’s fault. Fans want to dump on the goalie for not stopping the puck, and at the end of the day, that’s the goalie’s job. There’s no denying that. The Avalanche, however, have played much better defensively as a team since Annunen stepped between the pipes rather than for Georgiev.
With Annunen staking a claim to the starter’s share of the goaltending minutes of late, and recently signed Kaapo Kahkonen likely coming to the end of a conditioning stint with the Eagles, it’s probably time for Georgiev to clear his mind and rebuild his confidence.
The Avs need to send Georgiev down to the Eagles.
He’ll see most of the minutes in the crease, he’ll be able to build some confidence playing against minor league players, and he can clear his mind without the bright lights and constant media coverage that being an NHL player brings.
Georgiev has shown in the past that he can be a quality number one netminder in this league. Leading the league in wins the last two seasons has proven that fact. His numbers this season aren’t that of a number one goalie, and with an excess of options currently, now is the time to take some pressure off Georgiev.
If nothing changes then the Avalanche move forward with a team of Annunen and Kahkonen, and if Georgiev returns to form, then the team will have an asset at the trade deadline with one of the three goalies at the very least.
A small step backward to take a big step forward—it’s time to make the move.