Alexandar Georgiev played one of his best games of the season in the Avalanche’s 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena Thursday night. The 28-year-old netminder made 30 saves against the top goals-per-game average team in the league.
“It’s a really, really good team that we just faced. One of the top offenses and overall in the league,” Georgiev said after the game. “It’s great effort by the guys to get the two points. It was a big win, for sure.”
Washington struck first with three minutes left in the first period on a goal from Pierre-Luc Dubois. Tom Wilson grabbed a loose puck in the corner and threaded it over to Dubois right in front of the net. Georgiev had no chance with no one defending in front of him.
The Caps doubled the number of Avalanche shots in the first period, but the middle frame was all Colorado who outshot Washington 12-3.
The Avs’ tying goal was credited to Mikko Rantanen on the power play at 5:41 in the second. Rantanen grabbed the puck from Jonathan Drouin and slid it across the ice, which hit Matt Roy’s skate, and got past Logan Thompson.
Miles Wood led the team in shots on goal (5) but netted the game-winner on a deflection from a Cale Makar shot three and a half minutes into the third period.
It was a scramble in the end but the team held on in front of Georgiev to get the win.
Good: Alexandar Georigev
Georgiev was activated off the injured reserve list Thursday morning and looked like he didn’t miss a beat since his last game. The Russian netminder made big saves and played a solid 60 minutes.
The Caps made a huge push in the final minutes of the game but Georgiev stood tall and protected the lead to secure the win.
“You’re expecting the big push from them, and just trying to read and be in good position,” Georgiev said. “Battle kind of — you just survive. Survive the push.”
Good: Depth
It was another full-team effort from the Avalanche with goals coming from the top power-play unit and the fourth line. The Avs defended hard and blocked 18 shots to keep the puck out of the net.
Head coach Jared Bednar said he liked the effort from all four lines in the win.
“Our team’s found a little bit of rhythm here recently. Hasn’t been perfect, that’s for sure, and we needed Gorgie (Georgiev) tonight more than I would have liked, but we found a way to get a win as a team, and all four lines are contributing to that,” Bednar said.
Bad: Inconsistency and Faceoffs
There were good and bad plays in every period which Bednar did not like. The Avs had 17 giveaways and only one takeaway and allowed the Caps dangerous rush chances.
Washington dominated in the dot winning the majority of the faceoffs. Nathan MacKinnon took the most faceoffs, 19, but only won seven of them. Casey Mittelstadt won five of 13 and Parker Kelly was three for 15.
