DALLAS — He’s a Stanley Cup felon now, wanted in two countries, but the law can’t catch Alexandar Georgiev if he catches them first. Two counts of petty theft in Manitoba. Six counts of highway robbery in an overtime period. Nineteen counts of setting fire to a social media narrative. One count of fan-murdering in the first degree.
How do you plead, Georgie?
“I was just trying to stay focused and just compete,” the Avalanche’s transcendent goaltender offered after rescuing a 4-3 overtime victory at Dallas late Tuesday night. “And whatever comes, just try to make that save.”
The Stars had no business going down 1-0 to the Avs in their Stanley Cup Playoff series. None. They outshot Colorado 6-0 in the first seven minutes of OT. They pitched a tent in the Avs’ defensive zone. They set up camp in Georgiev’s backyard. They found the door to the back porch. They kicked at the thing until the hinges give way.
About four minutes and 53 seconds into overtime, Dallas forward Tyler Seguin leaned in for the kill and fell on his sword instead. The Stars center stared at a naked goal, used an Avs defender as a screener, and fired a snapper that should’ve lit the lamp.
Like all good thieves, though, Georgiev had other ideas. The Colorado netminder slid hard to his left, threw up his glove, kicked out his left leg pad and barred the biscuit, pure poetry and stone.
“The guy was coming like a wraparound and passed it quickly across (my vision),” said the Avs netminder, who’s won five straight postseason starts. “I felt like I was kind of behind the play a little bit. I was just trying to get my leg and my glove there and find the puck. I got maybe a little bit of luck there as well, but I was just trying to stay with it.”
John Dillinger tipped his horns. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker rose from their love seat of eternal damnation and applauded. As Tyler Seguin dragged a look of disgust and disbelief to the Dallas bench, Billy the Kid hollered from the eighth circle of Hades. They know a thief when they see one.
“He’s been huge for us,” said Avs winger Miles Wood, whose streaking, breakaway game-winner left the locals murmuring as they trudged to the exits.
“In the (Winnipeg) series, (Georgiev) was great for us. The first period, three goals were let in, but the bounce-back he showed was outstanding.”
Every long Stanley Cup run needs at least one game stolen from out of nowhere. Every championship parade needs a smooth criminal. Georgie not only robbed more than 18,000 locals in green during Game 1, he did it after weathering the mother of all first-period assaults: Nine shots faced and three goals allowed, a couple that lit the lamp after fluky bounces.
“Maybe a little bad luck from him on the first few goals,” coach Jared Bednar reflected. “First one, he didn’t see it … but he certainly stepped up as the game went on. And we’ve seen that from him in these playoffs.”
The Avs don’t need Georgie to be Patrick Roy for 40 minutes, let alone 60. They need overtime Georgiev in a pinch. They need flashes. They need consistent competence, a high floor that won’t crumble when the pressure mounts. They need a tether and a lifeline to the game, reasonable cover until this offense flips the switch that runs defenders ragged. Because they will. It’s just a question of when.
“I felt in the game from the start,” said Georgiev, who stopped 13 straight shots from the second stanza onward. “Maybe it was because I knew the other team would come out hard at the beginning of the first (period). They just had a couple good bounces on a couple of the goals. We tried to stick with it and see what happens. The guys did a great job (Tuesday) and managed to get us a win.”
Social-media skeptics will say the Avs’ formula is a paper tiger prowling on fumes. But that paper tiger is also 3-1 on the road this postseason while averaging 5.25 goals away from Colorado.
The best puck luck, of course, is the kind you make yourself. A series between two teams with this much skill and depth is going come down to the steel in the stomach and the space between the ears. And maybe the headiest play of the entire evening came in the dying seconds of a brutal first period, while the Avs were getting smoked like one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cigars.
Down 3-0, defenseman Josh Manson saw a puck about to be wrapped around by Dallas’ Jamie Benn while Georgie was still prone, helpless, spread-eagled on the ice after a belly-flop save. The veteran D-man hopped into the crease, swept up a loose puck and coolly flipped it out of danger.
“Yeah, we have some experience with winning big comebacks,” Georgiev said. “You try to play a full 60 (minutes), try not to think about the past and keep to the game plan and see what happens. The guys scored some big goals at the right times, and overall we found a way to win. That’s huge for us.”
So was he. Talent borrows. Genius steals.