Deen’s Daily: Georgiev Speaks for First Time Since Trade; Three Assists for Kovalenko on the Top Line

In their first game back at Ball Arena following a five-game road trip, the Avalanche were… Not great. More on them later because I felt today’s daily should start with a more newsworthy piece out of San Jose.

Our beat writer for the Sharks, Sheng Peng, scored an exclusive one-on-one Q&A with Alexandar Georgiev the day before he made his debut. Georgiev only faced 20 shots for the suddenly stingy Sharks on Thursday to earn a victory over the St. Louis Blues. San Jose won 4-3 and Georgiev finished with 17 saves. Also worth mentioning: Nikolai Kovalenko, playing on the top line, recorded three assists in the win. He had the primary assist on Jake Walman’s eventual game-winning tally.

The Q&A touched on everything from the trade, how Georgiev felt his season had gone in Colorado, and the long journeyfrom Pittsburgh to San Jose after he got word that he had been dealt.

Catch Peng’s game story here.

Colorado Hockey Now

It was a snoozer of a game from the Avs, or what I could call a perfect road performance by Utah. The NHL’s newest franchise didn’t give the Avs much at all to work with offensively. And when Colorado had opportunities, Karel Vejmelka came up big in net, making two sliding saves in the first two periods to keep the Avs off the board. Catch the full game story here.

Colleen Flynn also has a great Inside the Locker Room feature story on Ross Colton. She chatted with Colton and his linemate Casey Mittelstadt, breaking down what Colton means to the second line. Great stuff on Colton’s personality, too. The story can be found here. It’s behind the CHN+ paywall and well worth the few dollars a month for exclusive content. You can become a subscriber by clicking on the article.

Around the NHL

Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings lost again, and gave up four goals to the same guy. Is this the game that does it for Derek Lalonde as head coach?

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Pittsburgh entered the third period of Thursday’s matchup against the Montreal Canadiens up 3-2. You won’t believe how this game ended.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Jake Allen hasn’t played since Colorado shut out the Devils 4-0 last Sunday. Head coach Sheldon Keefe provided an update on the goalie.

Philadelphia Hockey Now: New writers are coming for PHHN.