NEW YORK — The Avalanche and Rangers might be off-Broadway appointment viewing next June.
For now, they’ve supplied spectators with theater’s most familiar storytelling trope that somehow never tires.
New York’s Goliath in goal, Igor Shesterkin, was as durable as usual — one ghastly gaffe notwithstanding — but his former backup played the role of David on Tuesday night. Alexandar Georgiev saved 44 shots at Madison Square Garden then three more in a shootout, and the Avalanche won 3-2 via Evan Rodrigues’ shootout goal in front of Georgiev’s former fans, an epic three hours after they greeted him with a first-period round of applause.
Georgiev didn’t take a bow, but it might as well have been a premature curtain call.
“I wasn’t even sure they did that,” he said. “Maybe I’ll get to check it later.”
Colorado is no underdog, of course. The Avs (4-2-1) are Stanley Cup champions and widely considered favorites to repeat, even if they didn’t exactly play like it in their first six games. Their performance Tuesday lived up to expectation more, but in New York they encountered a Rangers team that reached the Eastern Conference Final last season — and a team equipped with the most conventionally accepted ingredient for playoff success.
That would be Shesterkin, one of the most elite netminders in the business. Georgiev started his career as a backup goalie to Rangers legend Henrik Lundqvist, then as Lundqvist faded into retirement, along came Shesterkin to leapfrog Georgiev.
“Obviously this was a big game for him,” Rodrigues said.
The Avalanche opted to seek a second consecutive championship with a more unorthodox strategy this offseason, trading draft picks for the more affordable Georgiev. He is an everyday NHL starter for the first time. His fifth start brought him to his old home.
“For me it was getting into the normal routine,” Georgiev said. “Treat it like a normal game.”
Then the evening’s hero stopped himself and laughed.
“Which it is,” he said hastily.
For every question about the game’s personal significance, the 26-year-old was seemingly acting as though there was none. After all, he was two blocks from Broadway. But as Rodrigues said, “I think everyone kind of knew.”
In his first five starts, Georgiev has allowed 2.6 goals per game with a .921 save percentage. Colorado is 4-0-1 with him in net. He has only allowed four goals at five-on-five.
Georgiev notably denied New York’s 2020 No. 1 overall draft pick, Alexis Lafrenière, several times, including once with a sweeping pad save on a nifty redirect.
And when the game fittingly, if cruelly, went to a shootout, he stepped up one more time, saving three of four New York attempts. The game-clincher: another pad save against Lafrenière, punctuated by an emotional Georgiev punching the air.
He again tried to play nonchalant afterward, saying no when asked if it was the best win of his life.
As for where it ranks: “Tough to say, but pretty fun one,” Georgiev said, revealing another grin. “It’s in the top probably.”
The first to greet him in celebration was Rodrigues, another Avalanche newcomer who was slotted fourth in the shootout lineup when three attempts per team weren’t enough to break the stalemate.
“I just kind of went with my gut on that,” Bednar said.
Rodrigues had watched Cale Makar try a fake shot backhand on his shootout turn. It’s a move Rodrigues has done plenty himself.
“I figured if I did the same thing, he might bite on it,” he said, “and I could cut back.”
The Avalanche entered the night ranked 31st in the NHL in penalty kill but deterred all four power plays, including a 4-on-3 disadvantage in overtime. Georgiev’s most dangerous save came during a penalty kill, when the puck dribbled over his left blocker and landed on the goal line. Georgiev, having no vision of it, fell backward and froze the puck inches from a goal.
“I felt that the puck was behind me — I think it was — so tried to cover up the ice,” he said.
Colorado also scored short-handed for a 2-1 lead 59 seconds into the third period when Shesterkin made his only mistake of the night, straying too far from the net as Andrew Cogliano pursued and snatched the puck. He centered to Logan O’Connor, who cashed in.
The only goals Georgiev allowed? One late in the second period on an odd-man rush stemming from Sam Girard’s errant shot off the boards, and the other on an Adam Fox counter with 5:57 left in regulation after Nathan MacKinnon turned the puck over on the other end.
“He’s a really good goalie, and we expect him to make big saves for us every night,” Makar said. “Hopefully we don’t have to put him in positions like we did tonight.”
