After the Avalanche evened their first-round series with the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night, Colorado's Alexandar Georgiev praised his teammates for the support they've shown him, with coach Jared Bednar also defending his goaltender.
Georgiev, who gave up seven goals on 16 shots in the Avs' Game 1 loss on Sunday, responded by stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced in his team's 5-2 win at Canada Life Centre.
«They've shown so much support to me over the last couple days,» Georgiev said. «Very rough first game, obviously. I just felt so much trust in the room from everybody. I appreciate it so much. It helped me reset and I know that they got my back. I know I'll help them out as well during these playoffs. It was huge from them. I appreciate it.»
Entering Game 1, the Avalanche were already facing questions about how they would fare against the Jets. They were 0-3 in the regular season against Winnipeg, with their most recent meeting on April 13 a 7-0 loss in which Georgiev allowed four goals on 15 shots. Watching Georgiev surrender seven goals on Sunday only led to more questions for Bednar and the Avalanche about their plans in net going forward.
Bednar elected to stick with Georgiev, and the decision paid off, with the coach describing his 38-win goaltender's effort as «fantastic.»
«You can imagine coming in here not having a good night as a team, not having a good night on the defensive side, and if you give up seven as a goalie what type of things you're reading online,» Bednar said. «What you're hearing from everyone. Everyone goes immediately to doubt and criticism. To be able to put that aside and focus on his process… and go out and prove people wrong in Game 2?
»That's a tough job to do because you are the last
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