Colorado Avalanche goaltender Alexander Georgiev, 40, and Dallas Stars center Sam Steele, 18, during Game 1 of the second round of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on American Airlines. , fighting for position behind the net after Georgiev clears the puck in the third period. Center in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
DALLAS — He's now a Stanley Cup felon and wanted in two countries, but the law says he can't get Alexander Georgiev first. Two counts of petty theft in Manitoba. Six highway robberies occurred during overtime. There were 19 charges of arson for social media narratives. One count of first-degree murder of a fan.
How do you beg, Georgie?
“I just stayed focused and just competed,” the Avalanche's all-time goaltender said after salvaging a 4-3 overtime win at Dallas late Tuesday night. “And whatever happens, try to save it.”
There was nothing to dislike about the Stars' 1-0 loss to the Avs in Game 2 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series on Thursday. none. They outscored Colorado 6-0 in the first seven minutes of OT. They pitched a tent in the Avs' defensive zone. They set up camp in Georgiev's backyard. They found the door to the back entrance. They kicked it until the hinges broke.
Approximately 4 minutes and 53 seconds into overtime, Dallas forward Tyler Seguin leaned toward the goal and fell on the sword instead. The Stars center stared into a bare goal, used an Avs defender as a screener, and fired the snapper that should have lit the lamp.
But like all good thieves, Georgiev had other ideas. Colorado's netminder slid hard to his left, threw up his glove and kicked out the pad of his left leg. Biscuits, pure poetry, without stones.
“He came like a wraparound and got through (my vision) quickly,” said Georgiev, who is on a five-game postseason winning streak. “I felt like I was a little behind the play. I was just getting my foot and glove up there and trying to find the puck. Maybe I had a little bit of luck there as well. But I was trying to live with it.”
John Dillinger stood his horns. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker rose from their eternal hellish love seat to applause. Billy the Kid screamed from Hades' eighth circle as Tyler Seguin dragged a look of disgust and disbelief to the Dallas bench. They know a thief when they see one.
“He was huge for us,” Avs winger Miles Wood said. His winning streak was a triumph, and caused a buzz among the locals as they trudged to the exit.
“In the (Winnipeg) series, (Georgiev) was great for us. We gave up three runs in the first period, but his bounce back was great.”
A long Stanley Cup run requires at least one game to be stolen out of nowhere. Every victory parade requires a smooth criminal. Not only did Georgie take the green from over 18,000 locals in Game 1, he did it after surviving all the attacks in the first period. He took nine shots, conceded three goals, and two goals tickled the twine after erratic bounces.
“Maybe he had a little bit of bad luck with the first few goals,” coach Jared Bednar said. “In the first game, he didn't see it…but as the game went on he certainly stepped up. And we saw it from him in the playoffs.”
The Avns don't need Georgie to be Patrick Roy for 40 minutes, much less Patrick Roy for 60 minutes. They need Darcy Kuemper. They need flash. They require short memory and long faith. They need consistent ability, a high level that doesn't crumble under increased pressure. They need a tether and a lifeline to the game and good coverage until this offense flips the switch to batter defenders into pieces.
Because it does. It's just a matter of when.
Georgiev, who stopped 13 consecutive shots after the second round, said, “I felt like I was involved in the game from the beginning.'' “Maybe it was because we knew at the start of the first (period) that the other team was going to come at us hard. They just had a few good bounces on some goals. We waited to see if it would happen. The players did a great job (Tuesday) and we managed to get the win.”
Skeptics on social media will tell you that the Avs formula is a papier-mâché tiger roaming on smoke. However, the Paper Tiger has a 3-1 record this postseason while averaging 5.25 goals against Colorado.
Of course, the best puck luck is the one you create yourself. A series between his two teams with this much skill and depth is going to come down to steel in the space between his belly and his ears. And perhaps the most head-spinning play of the entire night occurred in the final seconds of a brutal first period, while the Avengers were being smoked like Arnold Schwarzenegger's cigars.
Leading 3-0, defenseman Josh Manson is still on his stomach and spread-eagle on the ice after Georgie makes a belly-flop save when the puck wraps around Dallas' Jamie Benn. I saw him about to be attacked. The veteran D-man dives into the crease. He picked up the loose puck and calmly ran away from danger.
“Well, we have a history of big come-from-behind wins,” Georgiev said. “Try to play the full 60 minutes, don't think about the past, stick to the game plan and see what happens. The players scored some big goals at the right time and overall we went on to win. We found a way. That's huge for us.”
So was he. I borrow talent. Geniuses steal.
