'Trying to be better at it,' Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev reset, ready to go
Colorado's starting goaltender was off in his last two games played but said he is ready for the next challenge — both physically and mentally.
Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev did not play the last two games but said he is ready to go whenever he is put in next.
Head coach Jared Bednar relieved Georgiev of his goaltending duties after allowing five goals through two periods of play in the 6-5 win against the Calgary Flames on Dec. 11.
"It wasn't coming from Gorgie (Georgiev) tonight, which is ok, it happens," Bednar said after the win against the Flames. "But I just felt like we couldn't stay the same."
Bednar said he spoke with his goaltending coach, Jussi Parkkila and the other coaches to make the goaltender change decision.
The 27-year-old got into a tussle with Flames forward Nazem Kadri with less than two minutes left in the second period. Pushing and shoving displayed Georgiev's frustration and cost both two-minute minors for roughing.
"Last game, just tried to be calm, and play my game. I don't know — the result wasn't there," Georgiev told The Hockey News' Colleen Flynn after practice on Friday. "I'm hoping it's not because of emotionally, I was not fired up or anything but just kind of how the game developed. But yeah, definitely trying to be better at it."
Ivan Prosvetov relieved Georgiev for the third period and stopped all 11 shots by the Flames. He played the full 60 in the 5-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres and the 6-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
Georgiev said on Friday that he was ready to go and had moved on from the Flames game. He reviewed his play, addressed what he could have done better and worked on those things in practice. He also said he had reset mentally to handle those situations better.
"Just kind of switching the mindset of it from getting frustrated at the result to maybe kind of accept it, figure out what happened and ok forget it — deal with it later," Georgiev said.
The Bulgaria native sits in a three-way tie for second-place among goaltenders with the most wins this season. In 23 games, Georgiev has registered 14 wins. He has also allowed the most goals (tied with Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Jonas Johansson with 67) in those nearly two dozen games.
With a few games off and some rest to regroup and refresh, Georgiev should be on top of his next game — which is most likely against a struggling San Jose Sharks team.
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