Strike 2: Would you ask a sports car to pull around a trailer?
That must have been what it was like for the Braintrust of the high flying, offensive-minded Colorado Avalanche to convince the team to start to play defensive-minded hockey, just in time for the playoffs.
Whatever they did, it worked. At both ends of the ice.
Against Winnipeg and stellar (regular season) netminder Connor Hellebuyck, the Avs went in knowing they needed to tighten things up in their own end. Then, after an ugly defensive performance in a 7-6 loss in Game 1, all fingers were pointed at their own beleaguered goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, with good reason. “Georgie” hadn’t played well during the final weeks of the regular season, including an ugly outing in a 7-0 beatdown by Winnipeg at Ball Arena. Despite leading the NHL in wins, Georgiev was at the bottom of the stats in terms of goals allowed. That told you all you needed to know about the Avs style of playing hockey. It wasn’t a good recipe for postseason success.
While Georgiev’s teammates rallied around him and said all the right things, he was thisclose to being replaced by back up Justus Annunen. If Annunen hadn’t come down with a mysterious illness, it’s likely he would have started Game 2. Instead, Georgiev – with a big boost from the new commitment to defense – rebounded, and the Avs took off.
And the best part is it hasn’t hurt the offense, which began piling up goals against Hellebuyck at a shocking pace.
As they say, sometimes a good defense is the best offense. Or is it the other way around?
Either way, playing good hockey at both ends is the calling card of every team that can win the Stanley Cup.
And this edition of the Avalanche really needs to do that, because even when he’s playing well, Georgiev is no Patrick Roy. He’s not going to “stand on his head” and steal wins in the playoffs, like elite goaltenders sometimes do.
As an organization, the Avs haven’t shown a propensity to look for “elite” between the pipes. They don’t draft a lot of goalies, they don’t sign high price free agents, and they don’t seem to even want to replicate the trade with Montreal in 1995 that brought them Roy, the only Hall of Fame netminder in franchise history. Instead, they seem to want to stay “inexpensive” and just okay in net, banking instead on a high flying offense system to get them on the road to the Cup every season.
It worked in 2022. Tough to argue with that, even though stellar goaltender Darcy Kemper (now with the Washington Capitals) and talented backup Pavel Francouz (who recently retired) played significant roles.
The question is, can going “cheap” in net work this year?
There are several hurdles ahead of course. Talented teams like Avs nemesis Las Vegas or division champ Dallas could be waiting down the road. So might high flying Edmonton and Connor McDavid. All will be stern tests for any goalie, and the defense in front of him.
What we’re seeing right now is Georgiev and his defensive teammates playing the best they can play behind their blue line. If they can continue doing so, perhaps going cheap in net will work.
