Goalies on both sides in familiar surroundings as the Avs visit the Sharks – Field Level Media – Professional sports content solutions

Less than two weeks after being traded, goaltenders Alexandar Georgiev of the San Jose Sharks and Mackenzie Blackwood of the Colorado Avalanche could face off when the two teams meet on Thursday night in San Jose.

Both were in goal in their team’s last games.

Georgiev made 29 saves in Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. His chances of starting against his former team are even better after backup goaltender Vitek Vanecek was hit in the face by the puck while on the bench and was unavailable for the rest of the game.

The Sharks recalled top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, on Wednesday. Askarov has appeared in two games for the Sharks and is 1-0-1 with a goals-against average of 1.96 and a save percentage of .927.

Blackwood made 22 saves in Monday’s 3-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, his second straight start since being traded on Dec. 9.

“It was a nice game,” Blackwood said. “Nothing major, but there’s a lot to build on.”

Regardless of who starts in goal, the Avalanche will be eager to improve their power play, which is 1-for-18 in their last seven games after going 0-for-4 against the Canucks.

“It’s been a work in progress for us lately,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “They’re struggling right now to get it more consistent, get to the inside of the ice and get good looks. There’s some things I like (against Vancouver) where they took a step but just couldn’t get to the net.”

Colorado forward Mikko Rantanen begins a six-game point streak (three goals, nine assists), putting him in a four-way tie for second in the NHL in points (47) as of Wednesday.

San Jose will look to bounce back after letting a 3-2 lead slip with eight minutes left against the Jets.

The Sharks also led 3-2 against the visiting Utah Hockey Club just before halftime of the third period on Saturday, but conceded the last two goals and lost 4-3.

“It’s just disappointing,” Sharks forward Tyler Toffoli said. “I thought we had a pretty good game (against Winnipeg) and obviously we had some breakdowns and goals against Winnipeg, but at the end of the day we have to move on and look at the positives here and try to build.” Keep it up and finish the games.”

The Sharks have lost five of their last six games overall and entered Wednesday’s game one point ahead of the last-place Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division. The Ducks hosted the Jets on Wednesday.

“It was better, but we still lost the game. There’s still a lot of work to do,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said of Winnipeg’s performance. “We had a power play when they made it 3-3 and had some chances on that power play. They pushed. In some eruptions you could feel it as they were doing it. They narrowed us down and jumped on us.”

Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini has been their best player lately. The No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft begins a four-game point streak (three goals, four assists) after contributing a goal and an assist against Winnipeg.

Other teams have certainly noticed.

“I think they understand what a good player he is,” Warsofsky said. “He’s a special player.”

–Field level media