If this was the most important game of Alexandar Georgiev’s Avalanche career (and I said it was), he answered the bell.
In a big way.
Things didn’t exactly start swimmingly. “Georgiev” chants just 35 seconds into the game, and a goal against at the 3:15 mark of the first period. I’m sure if the Avalanche drew up how they wanted to start the game, it involved none of that. That being said, it’s how you rebound in tough moments that show your character, and Georgiev more than held up his end of the bargain on Tuesday night.
It started almost immediately after that goal against. A big save on a deflection from a Jets player coming down the slot halfway thought the first when the team in front of him still hadn’t found their legs. In the second, an ugly turnover by Josh Manson led to a shot going off the goal post. You can’t expect him to stop pucks that technically don’t hit the net, but he immediately got over and stopped the rebound shot. That’s the big save he needed to give his team.
A few moments later, Artturi Lehkonen tied the game up at two, and the Avalanche never looked back. As the night went on, you saw him becoming more and more comfortable in a tough environment. Pucks started sticking to him, and when that happens, you know a goaltender is on their game.
“I give him all the credit in the world,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said after the game. “That’s not easy, and our team’s in full support of what he’s capable of doing and what we think he can do.”
It’s 100% true. Georgiev deserves all the credit in the world. I won’t back down from what I wrote before the game. This was the most important game of his career. If he had crumbled, his team would have been in serious trouble and you have to wonder if he would have been in net for Game Three.
You don’t have to wonder any longer. It’ll be his net on Friday night, and I’m sure the Avalanche fans will be behind him.
But about those chants. I asked Georgiev, who took to the podium after the game, if he is able to block out the noise when he’s in the game, or if he feeds off it.
“I try to enjoy it,” he said. “I’ve seen the atmosphere here before on YouTube. It’s one of the more fun buildings, probably, in the playoffs, the way that they come together – and the whole crowd is white. It’s super fun, even though I don’t really focus on them. But you feel the energy, you feel the atmosphere, you feel how important it is, how much fun those games are.”
His performance in Game Two helped make sure that he’ll get to experience that crowd again in a week.
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