Georgiev makes 41 saves in Avalanche win against Stars

DENVER -- Alexandar Georgiev made 41 saves for the Colorado Avalanche in a 4-1 win against the Dallas Stars at Ball Arena on Saturday.

"It was a lot of shots, but I feel like we were playing a really, really good game," Georgiev said. "We had a lot of penalty kill situations in the second, that's when they had some of their most dangerous chances, but 5-on-5, I think we played much better."
Josh Manson had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (12-6-1), who have won eight of 10.
"Honestly, I liked our commitment to defend. I liked the way we played hard," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "We were probably more physical than we've been in the last few games, just the depth guys making an impact tonight."

Jason Robertson had an assist to extend his point streak to 15 games, and Scott Wedgewood made 32 saves for the Stars (12-6-4), who had their seven-game point streak end (4-0-3).
"It's a lot easier when you're out in front, and the analytics show the success rate when you're out in front early," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. "It feels like we've been playing from behind every night here lately. We've got to fix that."
Nathan MacKinnon gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 2:05 of the first period on a power play. Dallas forward Jamie Benn lost control of the puck, and MacKinnon skated to the right face-off circle and scored on a wrist shot.
"They played last night (a 5-4 loss to the Winnipeg Jets in overtime)," Avalanche forward Dryden Hunt said. "Anytime you can start strong like we did and kind of work from there and try and bury them, I think it's huge."
Manson made it 2-0 at 13:51 when he crashed the net and scored with a backhand on a rebound of Mikko Rantanen's shot.
"Got lucky. It was nice. Sometimes those just get gobbled up," Manson said. "I would say 90 percent, 95 percent of the time, maybe even more than that, we'll go 99 percent of the time, those just get gobbled up, and that one percent, they just sit there and you just get a gift, so I was lucky."

Joe Pavelski got the Stars to within 2-1 at 8:13 of the second period with a power-play goal, redirecting a point shot from Miro Heiskanen. Robertson had the secondary assist on the play and has 28 points (16 goals, 12 assists) during his streak.
"It felt like they were on us early, then we got our game going the second half of the first [period]," Pavelski said. "Second period was good. We were on them there. We were on the power play enough. We were on the inside making some plays. Got that score within one there and we had opportunities to keep coming at them. It would've been nice to get another one there."
Hunt pushed the lead to 3-1 at 10:43 when he got Alex Newhook's rebound and scored with a backhand through Wedgewood's legs. The goal was his first with the Avalanche since being claimed off waivers from the New York Rangers on Oct. 20.
"It feels good, not just to get on the board but just to contribute," Hunt said. "I think a lot of the top guys here have been carrying the weight a little bit, I guess. We got lots of guys out, so that top line has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Anytime the fourth line or third line can chip in, I think it's huge."

Logan O'Connor extended it to 4-1 at 7:01 of the third period on a rebound of Manson's shot.
"I saw the opportunity to jump, and 'OC' made a great play at the blue line to cut and drive and drop it," Manson said. "I mean, that's a really, really skilled play. Tough play to make at the line on your forehand like that, so he did a good job."
NOTES: MacKinnon's goal was his 248th, tying Gabriel Landeskog for sixth in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history. … Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen had an assist to extend his point streak to an NHL career-long nine games (four goals, seven assists). … Colorado went 1-for-4 on the power play and has scored at least one power-play goal in eight consecutive games (10-for-34, 29.4 percent). … Avalanche forwards Sampo Ranta and Anton Blidh were recalled from Colorado of the American Hockey League on Saturday. Ranta had four hits in 7:06, and Blidh had one hit and blocked one shot in 7:35. … Robertson is tied with Neal Broten (Dec. 9, 1985-Jan. 11, 1986), Brian Bellows (Feb. 27-March 31, 1990) and Jude Drouin (Jan. 21-Feb. 18, 1971) for the second-longest point streak in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history. Bellows owns the longest in their history (20 games, Jan. 11-Feb. 21, 1986). Robertson (15 goals, 10 assists) is the third player in franchise history with 25 or more points in one month, joining Tom McCarthy (27, November 1983) and Broten (25, January 1984 and 25, February 1982). … Pavelski's point was his 948th, tying Chris Chelios for 12th among United States-born skaters in NHL history.