Georgiev makes 44 saves, Avalanche defeat Rangers in shootout

NEW YORK --Alexandar Georgiev made 44 saves in his return to Madison Square Garden to help the Colorado Avalanche defeat the New York Rangers 3-2 in a shootout on Tuesday.

Georgiev, who played for the Rangers from 2017-22 before he was traded to the Avalanche on July 7, stopped Kaapo Kakko, Mika Zibanejad and
Alexis Lafreniere
in the shootout. He is 4-0-1 this season with a 2.56 goals-against average and .921 save percentage.
"Pretty special," Georgiev said. "Doesn't get much better than that type of shootout win, and the building … the building is awesome. It brought (back) a lot of good memories. But for me, it was just playing the game and letting it come to me."
Valeri Nichushkin and Logan O'Connor scored for Colorado (4-2-1). Mikko Rantanen and Evan Rodrigues scored in the shootout.
"I feel like I knew 'Georgie' was going to have a game tonight," Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said. "Just obviously [playing against his] old team, they traded him here, so I don't know if there's any hard feelings and stuff like that. But we know him, he's a good goalie, but I feel like he was on a completely different planet tonight. So, whatever he did to channel that tonight, hopefully he can do continue to do that for us."

Barclay Goodrow had a goal and an assist, and Adam Fox scored for New York (3-2-2), which has lost three in a row (0-1-2). Igor Shesterkin made 42 saves, and Artemi Panarin scored in the shootout.
"Obviously you'd like to get the (extra) point, but we definitely played a lot better tonight than we have in the last couple of games (3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday; 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday), so maybe see it as a starting point for something to catapult us through tomorrow (at the New York Islanders) and the next little stretch here," Goodrow said.
Fox tied it 2-2 with 5:57 left in the third period on an odd-man rush after causing a turnover in the defensive zone. He knocked Nathan MacKinnon off the puck before converting on a passing play with Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey.
"He's a talented player," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said of Fox. "He's up the ice. Him and Makar looked pretty good going back and forth with each other with two real good players."
O'Connor's first of the season gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead 59 seconds into the third, scoring short-handed off a turnover by Shesterkin, who misplayed the puck in the corner. Andrew Cogliano got the puck and fed O'Connor in front.
"You definitely want to help the team to win to get the two points, but it was obviously just a bad shootout, and the second goal was completely on me," Shesterkin said.
Nichushkin made it 1-0 with a power-play goal at 11:40 of the first period, tipping a shot from Makar. The goal extended Nichushkin's season-opening point streak to seven games (seven goals, five assists).

Goodrow tied it 1-1 at 18:06 scoring at the side of the net off a pass from Jacob Trouba.
"A give-and-go and Blais made a great pass right to 'Troubs,' and Troubs made a great pass right over to me," Goodrow said.
The Avalanche went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, including the final 1:39 of overtime after MacKinnon was called for hooking Panarin, who had a breakaway and was stopped by Georgiev.
"I thought our penalty kill was really good tonight, which is nice for to see our guys get rewarded," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. " … They created a few chances, and when we needed a save, Georgie was there. But overall, a good night from our penalty kill, and they get a big short-handed goal for us, which was huge."
Georgiev made 19 saves in the third period and overtime.
"A lot of great memories (in New York)," Georgiev said. "A lot of great players and the staff. Tried to think about positives, and there were a lot of those. … I would say a pretty memorable [win]. I'll try to enjoy this one tonight, but then recharge. We've got a lot of other really important games coming up."
NOTES:Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews returned after missing two games with an undisclosed injury. He had six shots on goal in 26:26 of ice time. … Colorado has won four straight against New York and five of the past six. … The Rangers won 56 percent of face-offs, led by center Vincent Trocheck, who won 15 of 19. … The Avalanche, who lead the NHL on the power play (50.0 percent), have scored at least one with the man-advantage in six of their seven games.