Notebook: Is There a Healthy Goaltending Competition Brewing With the Avalanche?

Before the Avalanche’s perfect weekend, head coach Jared Bednar laid out his goaltending plans following the morning skate at Little Caesars Arena. He was starting Alexandar Georgiev against the Red Wings and giving Scott Wedgewood the nod the following night against the Devils — the team that drafted him in 2010.

But anything after that?

“Well see how both guys play. We’re still running it short-term,” Bednar told me on Saturday. “It’s Georgie [in Detroit] and it’ll be Wedgewood [in New Jersey], it’s a back-to-back. And then we’ll decide on Pittsburgh.”

So who do you play against the Penguins?

Georgiev had arguably his best game of the season against the Red Wings. He was excellent early and made at least two big stops in the first period. Later in the third, Colorado needed its goaltender to step up and he did. Detroit pulled Ville Husso and had eight shots in just over two minutes while on the 6-on-5 attack. Georgiev stopped every single one of them. Three of them were high-danger opportunities and four required a desperation move to keep the Avs ahead. The Wings had a 17-second stretch where Georgiev made a whopping six saves.

The only goal that beat Georgiev was a redirect from Lucas Raymond with bodies in front. That’s it.

But then Wedgewood came in on Sunday and let in one fewer goal. He got the Avs’ first shutout of the season by putting up a perfect 25-for-25 performance on the second leg of a back-to-back. He somehow one-upped Georgiev’s performance, albeit Detroit was more dangerous for longer periods during their game.

“If both guys are playing well then they’ll see playing time,” Bednar said. “If one guy is riding a hot streak then we’ll continue to use him. We’ll keep that mentality for as long as it takes.”

This begs the question, are we experiencing a healthy goaltending competition for Bednar’s club? And if so, how long will it last?

Yes, it was only two games. But the Avs led for 49 minutes in Detroit and 55 minutes in New Jersey. They scored the first goal in both games and didn’t give up the lead the rest of the way. Those types of performances haven’t been common for them this season.

But the defensive effort seems to have been ramped up. It’s not just the blueliners, but all five skaters.

Nikolai Kovalenko

I made a rookie mistake on Saturday and totally missed Nikolai Kovalenko’s absence for the last 15 minutes of regulation. I remember him blocking a shot and skating back gingerly to the bench in pain but I didn’t follow up on his status or think much of it.

Oftentimes, watching a game on TV will give you those extra notes from the commentators about an injury or absence from the bench. But watching live means catching most of that stuff on your own.

Kovalenko didn’t play in New Jersey and finished with less than seven minutes of ice time in Detroit because his night ended early. I even highlighted his lack of ice time in my 10 Observations piece and chalked it up to him not playing well. Rookie mistake on my behalf.

Valeri Nichushkin

Nichushkin saw more than 20 minutes of ice time on Sunday for just the fourth time in 12 games. I know Bednar has been somewhat easing him in but I’d love to see him get back to playing 20-22 minutes consistently. Right now he’s averaging 19:22 per game.