WINNIPEG — The Colorado Avalanche desperately needed a save, and Alexandar Georgiev delivered the biggest one of his season to date.
Colorado trailed 2-1 in Game 2 at Canada Life Centre. The Avs had just squandered a four-minute power play, missed on a Grade-A scoring chance and allowed the go-ahead goal on a fantastic one-handed tip-in by Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele.
Given the way Game 1 had gone, it’s not that much of a stretch to say that Game 2 and clear control of the series hanged breathlessly in the balance Tuesday night when Josh Manson and Jack Johnson had a miscommunication, and Manson’s pass in his own zone went astray. It was a gasp-inducing turnover.
A goal against in the following sequence — given the context of how the first 96 minutes of the series transpired — would be emotionally deflating for any team, regardless of championship pedigree, and any goaltender, regardless of resume.
Kyle Connor’s initial shot banged off the post to the left of Georgiev with a ping that echoed through the intimate arena. The rebound came directly to Gabe Vilardi, who had just set up the go-ahead goal, nine feet from the net. This was Winnipeg’s chance for a knockout punch.
Georgiev said no.
Fifty-five seconds later the Avalanche tied the game. A little more than five minutes after that, Colorado had stunned the Whiteout crowd by snatching a two-goal lead before the second intermission. Mason capped it with a rare breakaway goal, authoring his own redemption tale after a turbulent Game 1.
“I tried to imagine that feeling of winning the first game of the series for us,” Georgiev said, adding this experience was “super fun” after everything from the previous couple of days. “Trust the game, enjoy the atmosphere and try to approach it as a new game after the last one.”
Vilardi’s rebound attempt had a 29.6% chance of being a goal, given some of the context, including where he was on the ice and the launch angle of his shot, according to MoneyPuck. That’s a huge number for any shot attempt — higher than any of the goals scored in Game 2 before Valeri Nichushkin’s empty-netter.
Maybe the narrative is too easy, but the Avs took flight and grounded the Jets after that one big save. Colorado dominated the final 26 minutes, and Georgiev was perfect en route to his redemption story.
“The goalie and some of your stars, when things go well they’re gonna get the credit and when things go poorly, they’re gonna take a lot of the blame, right? It is what it is, and nobody’s perfect,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “If you give up seven as a goalie, what type of things you read online, what you’re hearing from everyone — everyone just goes immediately to doubt and criticism.
“To be able to put that aside, focus on his process just like we would with the team, be mentally strong, resilient, and then go out and prove people wrong again, too, that’s a tough job to do because you are the last line of defense.”
The Avs wanted to be better in front of Georgiev after a few of their mistakes contributed to his seven goals allowed on only 23 shots in a 7-6 loss in Game 1. They were at times in Game 2, but Georgiev actually faced more tough chances than he did in the series opener.
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Winnipeg had more seven more shots on goal in Game 2, but the Jets were also credited with 10 more scoring chances and four more high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. They created more expected goals than Game 1 as well.
The save on Vilardi wasn’t the only big one Georgiev made. But it was the most timely, and allowed his teammates to deliver a flurry of offense to strike back and even the series.
Georgiev gave the Avalanche the chance he couldn’t in Game 1. His teammates rallied behind him, and took care of the rest.
“They showed so much support to me over the last couple of days,” Georgiev said. “A very rough first game, obviously. I just felt so much trust in the room from everybody and I appreciate it so much. It helped me reset, to know that they have got my back. I know I’ll help them out as well during this playoff. It was huge from them. I appreciate it.”