Historically, an inexperienced goaltender being handed the reins in the playoffs is not out of the ordinary in the NHL.
Just last year Toronto turned to a raw goalie in Joseph Woll and he stopped 86 of 94 shots (.915 save percentage) in four games. It was an admirable job for someone who was given the crease against a strong Florida team after just 11 career starts.
Several years before that, Matt Murray — a 22-year-old goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins — stepped in for Game 3 of the 2016 first-round series against the New York Rangers and won 15 games and a Stanley Cup. He had made just 13 starts before that.
The examples stretch far and wide. You can refer to Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes leading them to their only Stanley Cup championship after entering the playoffs with just 21 starts under his belt. And if your memory stretches far enough, some kid named Patrick Roy led the Montreal Canadiens to hockey’s holy grail in his rookie season after 43 regular-season starts.
All that’s to say, we’ve seen enough.
It’s time to hand the keys to Justus Annunen. The Avalanche’s backup goalie, who has 15 career starts and a solid .928 save percentage in 2023-24, is coach Jared Bednar’s only hope.
In Game 1 against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev allowed seven goals on 23 shots. It was just the 21st time over the past 30 years that a goalie had surrendered that many goals in a playoff game. Georgiev’s 16 saves were the lowest among all of those instances.
Georgiev in Game 1: -4.36 goals saved above expected. Only four games this season where a goalie finished with a bigger minus. Georgiev's start Nov. 4th vs VGK one of them.
— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) April 22, 2024
The Avalanche outshot Winnipeg 46-23 and put six goals past Connor Hellebuyck in a 7-6 Game 1 loss on the road.
They were able to beat the likely Vezina Trophy winner at will. But they couldn’t beat the guy manning the crease on their side.
“It probably needed to be better,” Bednar told reporters in Winnipeg, referring to what is among the worst playoff goaltending performances the NHL has seen in 30 years. “I thought we played well, we created some chances. He made some good saves but we’re gonna need a couple more saves than that to win. But it is what it is. We’ll regroup.”
Bednar also went on to rightfully note that the Avs gave up a handful of opportunities to the Jets. And Winnipeg was able to capitalize on most of them. Georgiev bailed the team out on occasion, but the overall game just wasn’t good enough.
The fact is, it’s impossible for a team to play a perfect game without any breakdowns. The Avs clinched the Stanley Cup in Game 6 in Tampa Bay two years ago by playing nearly flawless hockey for 60 minutes. But they still needed Darcy Kuemper to stand tall and stop Nikita Kucherov late in the third period of a one-goal game off a poor line change.
At some point, you need a save. And those saves need to come when the game is close.
Colorado trailed 7-4 and Georgiev had stopped 15-of-22 to that point. But following that seventh goal, the Avs shut it down. They allowed just one shot in the final 11:06 of regulation and scored twice to pull within a goal.
They knew they needed to be almost perfect to keep the game within reach. And the most they could trust their goalie with was a single saveable shot.
Jets fans are chanting "pull your goalie"
— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) April 22, 2024
Annunen might not be the answer. It’s anybody’s guess if he’s ready for the bright lights of the toughest postseason in pro sports. But a .696 save percentage from your starter isn’t going to cut it. If Annunen is a handful of saves better than that, the Avs steal Game 1 in a hostile environment at Canada Life Centre.
Instead, they’ll need to regroup for Game 2 despite outclassing the Jets in every other aspect of the game.
Annunen did not dress Sunday because of an illness. If he’s ready to go on Tuesday, he should be in the crease with Georgiev seated on the bench as the backup.
That’s the best option this team has.
“I don’t know if he’s gonna be healthy enough to play,” Bednar said of Annunen’s illness. “Wasn’t healthy enough to play tonight. We’ll see what we see in the morning. I’m not thinking of anything else. We gotta have him available if he’s gonna play.”
"I'm not gonna speculate," Bedar told reporters when asked if he would consider a goaltending change.
My thoughts: This will be a topic of discussion for the next 48 hours. And Annunen feeling better will obviously play a big part in it.
— Aarif Deen (@runwriteAarif) April 22, 2024
Highlights
- Valeri Nichushkin scored the opening goal for either team. In last year’s seven-game series loss to Seattle, the Avs gave up the first goal in every game.
- Star center Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist. Star Defenseman Cale Makar had a goal and two assists. The duo combined for 23 of the Avalanche’s 90 shot attempts and led the way in ice time. Colorado’s top stars showed up and did their thing.
- Without Samuel Girard, the Avs used several different defense pairings in Game 1. Makar played with Sean Walker and Devon Toews was paired with Josh Manson at times.
- Arvid Holm — Colorado’s fourth-string goalie — was called up to be an extra body. Instead, he was slotted in as the backup after Annunen was deemed too ill to dress. Annunen practiced with the Avs Saturday at Family Sports prior to the team’s flight to Winnipeg.
- Each of the Avalanche’s top-six forwards had a point except for Zach Parise. The 39-year-old winger slotted in on the top line in Jonathan Drouin’s place. He had two shots and six hits in 16:03.