Deen’s Daily: Avs Goaltending; Hall of Fame Festivities; Crosby and Ovechkin’s 70th Meeting

The Avalanche took the day off on Friday ahead of another tough matchup to start the weekend — hosting the 10-2-0 Carolina Hurricanes at Ball Arena. That game on Saturday commences a four-game homestand for the Avs, which also includes games against the Nashville Predators, Los Angeles Kings, and Washington Capitals. I’m sure we’ve all done this by now, but you may want to circle that Caps game on your calendar. It’ll be the return date for Valeri Nichushkin.

I didn’t get a chance to write much on Friday aside from the Daily. But I do want to get a headstart on a conversation that began on my podcast, Rinkside with Aarif Deen. I recorded an episode Friday recapping the Avs’ 1-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Specifically, I wanted to touch on the subject of Colorado’s goaltending and how Alexandar Georgiev put in a solid effort against the team he eliminated in five games in the first round last spring.

Justus Annunen has been playing decently well but the Georgiev performance against the Jets was arguably the best from any goalie in any game this year for Colorado. You’ll have to listen to the podcast episode linked above to get my full thoughts on this, but I wonder if Jared Bednar should do what other coaches with tandem goalies often do and just outright alternate between Georgiev and Annunen on a game-to-game basis. Try it for 20 games and see what happens.

What say you?

Around The NHL

Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings were in Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs to commence the annual Hall of Fame festivities. Detroit was the opponent this time around because the biggest name from this year’s class is Pavel Datsyuk. Nicknamed “The Magician,” Datsyuk was an incredible core piece of Detroit’s team for well over a decade. Along with Henrik Zetterberg, the duo kept the Red Wings’ playoff streak alive with Nick Lidstrom still winning Norris Trophy’s late into his career. Daystuk won two Stanley Cups in 2002 and 2008 and appeared in three Stanley Cup Final series. Detroit fell to the Leafs, 3-1. 

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Pretty cool moment between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin ahead of their matchup on Friday. The two superstars faced off for the 70th time in the regular season in careers spanning 20 seasons. The only duo with more games against each other over a longer timespan are Mark Messier and Ron Francis, who faced off at least once in 23 straight seasons.

The Penguins went on to defeat the better Capitals and snap a four-game losing skid.

Montreal Hockey Now: Marco D’Amico has more on what has been a tough start for the Habs. And why their issues aren’t a quick fix.

Philly Hockey Now: Ivan Fedotov wasn’t supposed to start for the Flyers in their last game. He only got the nod because of a late injury to Aleksei Kolosov. In his first appearance in more than two weeks, Fedotov shut down the high-scoring Tampa Bay Lightning and secured the two points in a 2-1 shootout victory. It was an emotional win for Fedotov, who celebrated his first career NHL win. What a journey it’s been for him over the last several years just to get to this point.