Alexandar Georgiev recovers in goal as Avalanche gives the Wings the lead

Alexandar Georgiev rebounded from his worst performance of the season with 29 saves and the Colorado Avalanche beat the struggling Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Saturday night.

Georgiev was withdrawn from his previous start after giving up four goals in less than 12 minutes against the Buffalo Sabers on Tuesday. On Saturday, Valeri Nichushkin scored his third goal in two games for Colorado, which had lost four of its previous six. Cale Makar delivered a power play marker.

Lucas Raymond scored a goal for the Red Wings, who have lost five straight games. Ville Husso stopped 23 shots. He made his third consecutive start with Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon sidelined by lower-body injuries.

Colorado scored its first goal of the contest just after the midway point of the first period. Nichushkin’s shot was blocked by Ben Chiarot, but he recovered the puck and scored from the slot, beating Husso on the glove side. Samuel Girard and Casey Mittelstadt had assists on the game.

Jonatan Berggren and Joe Veleno had good chances for Detroit in the first half, but couldn’t convert them.

Neither team managed a power play in the first frame. Makar was called out for a hook late in the period, but that was made up for when Tyler Motte was also sent to the box for a make-up.

The first power play came early in the second period when Detroit’s Vladimir Tarasenko was called for a hook. Makar took advantage of the opportunity when his shot from near the blue line went past a shielded Husso.

The Wings had their first power play about halfway through the period when Mikko Rantanen was called for slashing. Detroit only managed a single shot on net in those two minutes.

Raymond scored his eighth goal in nine games to put Detroit on the board with 1:47 left in the second. He tipped in a shot from Dylan Larkin.

Georgiev was under fire after the Wings pulled their goalie for an extra skater, but he stood his ground and didn’t allow the game to go into overtime.

–Field level media