Georgiev bounces back, looks ‘much better’ for Avalanche in Game 2 win

WINNIPEG -- Alexandar Georgiev had his focus, knew what he wanted to accomplish when he got in the net on Tuesday.

“I tried to imagine that feeling, winning the first game of the series for us,” the Colorado Avalanche goaltender said after a 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round at Canada Life Centre.

“Trust the game and enjoy the atmosphere. I tried to approach it as a new game, definitely, after the last one.”

It was certainly redemption for Georgiev, whose rough outing in Game 1, when he allowed seven goals in a 7-6 loss to the Jets in Game 1, prompted questions on whether he would start Game 2. But the 28-year-old gathered himself and looked outstanding in saving 28 shots.

“Fifty percent of the questions I’ve had over the last three days with three media availabilities are going to be about ‘Georgy,’” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “But to be able to fight through that, get focused on what he needs to do, I thought he was outstanding.

“And he deserves all the credit because our team was better, but it wasn’t that much better. But he was much better, and he gave us a chance to win, and we did win and now we have to go repeat it.”

The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1. Game 3 is at Ball Arena in Denver on Friday (10 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, ALT, TVAS, CBC).

Redemption seemed to be the theme of the night for Colorado It was there for Josh Manson, who admitted to making some costly miscues in Game 1. On Tuesday the defenseman came out of the penalty box, took a pass from center Nathan MacKinnon and scored a breakaway goal for a 4-2 Avalanche lead with seven seconds remaining in the second period.

“Yeah, that felt good,” Manson said. “I mean, first of all, glory to God. I don’t get those often and just to be able to put that away, it was nice. It was obviously not my best effort, Game 1 defensively. I wanted to focus on that, and those things happen sometimes like that. So, it was nice.”

Georgiev’s night included a couple of clutch moments. He saved a point-blank tip-in attempt by Jets forward Sean Monahan, who came down the slot at 4:50 of the first period. That save came 1:35 after Jets center David Gustafsson scored on him to give the Jets a 1-0 lead.

“I felt I played pretty good in that moment,” Georgiev said of the Gustafsson goal. “The puck was going to my right side, and he gets the rebound to the left and then it bounces back to the right. Kind of a tough position. And I tried to… it’s a long game, try and reset, keep to my game play and trust the process.”

Clearly, it didn’t disrupt him. Georgiev corralled a bouncing shot from forward Nino Niederreiter at 7:12 of the third period and made a save on a wrist shot by Nikolaj Ehlers when the Jets forward was alone in the right circle at 14:36 of the third.

“Well, we need it. We’re going to need him if we want to go on a run,” Colorado defenseman Devon Toews said. “We’re going to need everybody in this room to have their A-game for us to go on a run. For him to find it tonight was a big one, to take one on the road.”

Indeed, getting a split on the road, especially in an environment as raucous as Canada Life Centre, was important. With all the pressure that Georgiev was likely feeling the past few days, he could have wavered, could have buckled. Instead, with the support of his teammates, Georgiev found his game and has the Avalanche feeling great as they head home.

“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.”