Goalie Georgiev helps Avs remain perfect with another stellar outing
The Seattle Kraken upset the Colorado Avalanche in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a heavy dose of depth scoring and excellent goaltending.
Colorado went to Seattle on Tuesday night and beat the Kraken with the same script. Alexandar Georgiev made 37 saves, including several critical ones in the first 40 minutes, and the critical goal came shorthanded from a fourthline forward in a 4-1 victory.
Seattle controlled play for large parts of the first two periods, but Colorado — much like it did in Los Angeles at the start of this trip — was much better defensively in the final period. The end result was a perfect three-for-three start on the road for the Avalanche, including wins against two Pacific Division clubs that expect to make the playoffs this season.
The Avalanche has also now won 14 consecutive road games in the regular season, which ties an NHL record. The Avs will have a chance to set a new mark a week from Tuesday on Long Island.
Here are some observations from the end of a perfect road trip to start the season:
O’CONNOR’S TWO-WAY NIGHT>> Logan O’connor showed off the versatility of his hands in this one. O’connor fought Jordan Eberle in the game’s opening minute, a clear nod to what happened during the 2023 postseason. Eberle delivered a controversial hit on Andrew Cogliano in that series, and the result was two fractures in his neck.
O’connor also scored shorthanded to give the Avs a 2-1 lead. He won a long race to the puck, balanced himself with one hand on his stick and then snapped a shot past Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer.
SOLID IN NET>> Colorado’s best player so far this season is … Georgiev? The big guns have all played very well, but the Avs’ goaltender has been fantastic. He was a breakout star at the position last season, and is already off to an excellent start in year two as a no-doubt No. 1 guy.
He provided the definition of “keep the team in the game” goaltending while the guys in front of him were sloppy early on. His saves on Grade-a chances for Adam Larsson and Yanni Gourde late in the second period preserved a 2-1 lead.
Given the Avs’ favorable logistics between now and Thanksgiving, Georgiev could play a lot of games. If he keeps this level of play up, Colorado is going to win most of them. And he’s going to be firmly among the early-season Vezina Trophy contenders.
PENALTY KILL PLUGS ALONG>> The penalty kill, with a strong assist from Georgiev, is off to a great start. The Avalanche is obviously going to score a lot and control play at even strength most nights. Penalty killing has been relatively mediocre in recent seasons.
Josh Manson told The Denver Post during the preseason the PK’S goal was simple — set the standard as high as the power play does. That means shooting for a top-five finish.
Given the way Seattle controlled this game at times, yielding a power-play goal would have been a huge boost for the Kraken with their amped-up fans in the home opener. The Avs are 13-for13 to start the year on the kill, and have a shorthanded goal as a bonus.
SWITCHING THINGS UP>> Jared Bednar made one tweak to the lineup before the game, flipping Valeri Nichushkin and Jonathan Drouin on the top two lines. He hinted at practice Monday that changes would be coming at some point, in part because he wants to see everyone in the top-nine forward group get familiar with each other.
The new-look second line had a nice game territorially, though Drouin missed a golden chance to extend the lead early in the third period. The old-look second line actually produced the first goal. Nichushkin was out with Artturi Lehkonen and Ryan Johansen during the first spin through the lineup after a penalty ended, and his hard work in the slot helped open up some space for Lehkonen to score Colorado’s first goal. Nichushkin also added an emptynet goal to seal the victory.
HALLOWED COMPANY>> Cale Makar earned the primary assist on O’connor’s goal. It was the 250th point of his career. He became the fastest defenseman to reach 250 points in NHL history — doing it in 241 games was quicker than the previous record holder, Bobby Orr, by six games.
The rest of the top six includes Denis Potvin, Brian Leetch, Paul Coffey and Ray Bouqrue. That’s essentially the five best offensive defensemen in league history … just behind Makar. Pretty nice company to keep.