Aarif Deen
The effects of solid goaltending can easily trickle down through the lineup.
For example, last year when Justus Annunen came in late in the season and handled backup duties, he gave the team confidence in a goalie that wasn’t named Alexandar Georgiev. In the first 60 or so games, it felt like Colorado couldn’t put in a solid effort if Georgiev wasn’t in goal. Ivan Prosvetov was hot and cold, the first stint with Annunen wasn’t quite as strong, and the goaltending trade rumors whirled all the way up until the deadline. Head coach Jared Bednar had no choice but to overplay his starter. And despite it not being a smart long-term decision, it was the only option he had for nearly five months.
But there’s truly something to be said about how a goaltender can make his team better. Even in games where he’s not the star of the show. Annunen did that as a backup last year. And right now, he’s doing it as Colorado’s starter.
Looking back at the difference between the first four games and the last four games of the season, it’s hard to just pin the losing streak on goaltending and the winning streak on better goaltending. When you break down the 21 goals Georgiev and Annunen let in throughout the losing streak, the plays leading to the tallies were jam-packed with defensive lapses. The turnovers, the boneheaded mistakes, the brutal back-checking, the lack of communication, and even sometimes, very little effort. Most of those issues just aren’t rearing their ugly head during the four wins. Or at least not as much.
Is the goalie the one playing defense? Is he Cale Makar turning the puck over with a tape-to-tape pass to Brock Nelson while the Avs were on the power play? Of course not. But, what if the goaltending was the root cause of all of this? What if better goaltending, a steady presence, and the lack of drama in the crease played a role in the rest of the team picking up their slack?
It’s a crazy thought. But it just might be true.
Let’s look back. In the season opener, the Avalanche came out strong in the early going and outplayed the Vegas Golden Knights for most of the first period. They scored first, and they looked like they were on their way to another strong road start, just like the year prior. But then Vegas came on in the latter stages of the first and scored twice to take the lead before the intermission.
The Avs continued to press, scoring to make it 3-2 before Vegas quickly responded again to make it 4-2. When Colorado made it 4-3, Vegas scored quickly and made it 5-3. The trend continued throughout the night, eventually leading to an 8-4 loss. Every time they found their legs, they were deflated with a goal against them.
In the home opener, the pattern continued. Colorado trailed 3-1 before the second period was two minutes old. It led to Bednar pulling Georgiev for the second straight game. And before Annunen faced a shot, the Avs scored twice to make it 3-3. It was now anybody’s game.
But, Annunen’s first shot against was a goal. The pattern continued. The team had little trust in their goalies. It felt like anytime they made a mistake, it led to a goal against. And playing with that type of nervousness isn’t quite a recipe for success.
When Georgiev surrendered a bad opening goal against Columbus, Avs defenseman Calvin de Haan was seen jawing at his goalie for not making a routine save. The team was fed up. And then Mikko Rantanen said this after the loss to the New York Islanders in the third game:
“We score a goal and then we give up a goal right after. It’s happened in all three games now,” Rantanen said. “It’s a lot easier to play with the lead and we haven’t been able to do that at all. If you go behind two or three goals it’s tough to come back. It’s frustrating.”
Here we are now. The Avalanche let in the only two goals in the first period of their first win — a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. But they were far and away the better team in those 20 minutes. Both goals, especially the second one, were because of terrible officiating. Since then, they’ve outscored the opposition 16-5. Since then, Georgiev shut things down the rest of the way and helped Colorado squeak out its first win before Annunen took over starting duties.
And since then, Annunen has calmed the goaltending drama down. He’s 3-0 in his only three starts this season and has given the rest of the team the ability to play without that nervousness. Not only does it feel like they don’t need to worry about giving up a goal right after scoring, but, as Rantanen said, it’s easier to play with the lead. So even in the games where Colorado hasn’t started well (Seattle specifically), strong goaltending kept the game scoreless before the Avalanche got on the board first.
Goaltending matters in more ways than one. Just ask the 2024-25 Colorado Avalanche.