Avalanche Room: Makar Talks Malinski, Georgiev On Losing His Cool

What a fantastic hockey game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Boston Bruins.

I really don’t have much more to say other than that. After the victory, Jared Bednar was very complimentary of his team. He had a reason to be. It was one of the more complete games the team has played all season. From the drop of the puck to the end of the shootout, the Avalanche out-chanced the Bruins and competed hard. In the end, they were rewarded with a win.

Cale Makar talked about the penalty kill at the end of overtime, a penalty he nearly killed by himself, as well as Sam Malinski‘s fantastic goal. Malinski earned praise from his head coach, who will have a tough time sending the young defenseman down. Alexandar Georgiev talked about losing his cool, and coach had something to say about that.

Watch Makar and Georgiev’s availability, and read what Bednar had to say after the Avalanche won 4-3 in a shootout.

Bednar on the strong performance from the Avalanche:

“I thought it was a great game from our guys. Both teams, really. It was an awesome hockey game. Hard fought, competitive. I really liked our game 5-on-5. It was great. Penalty kill, outstanding. Powerplay generating some great chances. Obviously, their goalie made some big saves, as did ours. I thought that game had a little bit of everything. Start to finish, probably one of our most complete games of the year. Just the way we played, competed, took care of the puck. It was a really good hockey game.”

Bednar on the large amount of Bruins fans in Attendence, and if that got the building into it more:

“It was noticeable. I’d rather it all be our fans, to be honest, but I think it was a great game with fan involvement. Little bit of everything. Exciting game, physical game. Sometimes it ends up like that. When we’re on the road, sometimes we get a lot of fans in there and it makes for a nice rivalry night.”

Bednar on Sam Malinski’s game:

“He’s played really well when he’s been with us. Obviously, we have a couple of ‘D’ out of the lineup now, so he’ll be here for a little bit. We’ll see what happens with those other guys. The reason we sent him down is simple – got to keep playing. If we’re fully healthy, we got our 6 guys, but he’s certainly making a case for himself. It’s now his second stint coming up, and I thought he got better and better through the first stint. He’s a little more comfortable. His puck movement was great tonight, and that’s not an easy team to play against either. Really good game and then to get rewarded for it, that’s nice to see.”

Bednar on some injury updates:

“(Manson) is day-to-day. Bo’s feeling a little bit better. You know the story on (Lehkonen). Woody’s day-to-day. Thought he’d be back by now, but he’s still just not feeling very good at all.”

Bednar on Georgiev’s game:

“Thought he was great. I really liked our checking game tonight.”

Bednar on if he likes Georgiev showing emotion:

“I think he’s shown too much, over the course of the season. You start slamming doors, breaking sticks, to me, if you’re on the other bench, you’re just (thinking) you’re getting these guys where we want them. I don’t know who he’s mad at. Everyone’s defending it as hard as they can, pucks laying there in the crease and they chip it in. I would rather just be in control. I want you to play the game with emotion, but in between whistles and stuff, most of the emotion is a waste of energy. Jussi will talk to him about it for sure.”

Bednar on competing with Boston while the Avalanche missed some players:

“Complete game throughout the lineup, that’s one of our best of the year. And then you start looking at some of the guys that are out, right? You’re missing our second pair in Manson and Byram, you’re missing a handful of forwards. Every team goes through it. You got to find ways to win without guys, but for young guys coming into a game like that with that kind of temperature, I thought they all did a pretty nice job. The regular guys that are here all the time certainly dug in.”

Bednar on if he’s ever seen both teams take a Too Many Men penalty at the same time:

“No. I haven’t looked at their portion of it, but I didn’t like ours, that’s for sure. Mikko’s already at the bench putting his leg over the boards when Kivi comes on. What’s he supposed to do? Dive in the bench? I just don’t get it, but at least they got them at the same time.”