Justus Annunen has clearly earned more starts over Alexandar Georgiev for the Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche started off their 2024-25 season in disappointing fashion, losing four-straight. Since then, they have registered a 4-0 record to improve their win streak. A lot has to do with the goaltending situation the team has.

Alexandar Georgiev has started five of the team’s games, but has just a .810 save percentage, and an atrocious goals against average of 4.99. In those games, he already has given up 20 goals. The frustration with Georgiev is obvious,

Obviously, it has been two weeks since that quote by Mikko Rantanen.

Justus Annunen has pulled off three consecutive victories after getting the nod in each of those games. He has given up four total goals in those starts, with one each coming against the Sharks, and Thursday against the Utah Hockey Club. He surrendered two against the Seattle Kraken in a 3-2 victory.

One thing that is completely obvious as a viewer is that the Colorado Avalanche appear to play significantly better when Annunen is between the pipes. I won’t necessarily say that the team’s goaltending is completely solved, but it makes a huge difference when your teammates believe in you. Unfortunately, that just does not appear to be the case with Georgiev.

Prior to the season’s start, it was already pretty obvious that head coach Jared Bednar wanted to give more starts to Annunen this season. Depending on several factors, that could leave the Avalanche with a relatively easy decision on what to do with Georgiev in the offseason, unless they decide on an extension at some point. With his play, however, that doesn’t sound likely—at least in-season.

It’s also important to note that things technically could go south with Annunen. These early-season wins are amazing, but will only tell a small story about his overall 2024-25 season. The team could still feel obligated to look elsewhere for a true starter.

At some point in the near future, the team will get a chance to see newly-acquired goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen. The Avalanche claimed Kahkonen off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets recently. Of course, there’s also a chance that Kahkonen doesn’t work out for Colorado, which would be another devastating development.

There is still plenty of hockey left to play. The hope is that Annunen continues on a positive trajectory, but at some point, he will have a bad game. That’s just the nature of hockey. That being said, it feels great to see the Colorado Avalanche on a winning streak, and feeling more confident in their guy between the pipes.