The Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets squared off on Thursday evening in Canada. Surprisingly, the game was quite entertaining. Both goaltenders—Alexandar Georgiev and Connor Hellebuyck—played outstandingly well. Both goaltenders wanted to win this for their respective club.
It was Hellebuyck who came out on top, but that absolutely does not mean that Georgiev was terrible. Like I said yesterday, credit where credit is due. Hellebuyck played out of his mind, saving all 35 shots that the Avalanche sprayed on him. It was a terrific performance by a terrific goaltender who could end up being the top goaltender in the entire league when the season is complete. After all, he has held up strong for his team, leading to just one loss on the year to this point.
In my eyes, a loss by the Avalanche was pretty well expected. The Avs were facing a red hot team, while putting out a roster that has question marks due to injury and Valeri Nichushkin’s suspension. It would have been great had they pulled off a win, but it would have been unexpected.
The thing that was very much unexpected was the fact that Winnipeg was only able to put up one goal. It came off of a turnover by the Avalanche, and Georgiev hardly had a chance when that happens. It’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I know I’ve been harsh on Georgiev in the past, right or wrong, but Thursday’s game was a great performance put up by the Avs’ goaltender.
It feels as though Georgiev has been put into a backup role, with Justus Annunen playing very well so far, and I think that head coach Jared Bednar wanted to go with the veteran goaltender instead of putting in the young guy against a top level team. That strategy definitely makes sense.
If Georgiev can find his way out of a slump that began his 2024-25 campaign, maybe the team’s goaltending won’t be as bad as I, and many others, have thought it would continue to be. Maybe, just maybe, the Avalanche will be alright after all, and not try to make some sort of trade for a goaltender before the deadline.
Maybe, just maybe, Georgiev can take this game as a major positive and work his way to earning a contract extension with Colorado. Maybe.