Good and bad: Georgiev gets the goal as the Avalanche come back to beat the Red Wings 2-1 in Detroit

DETROIT – In the first 27 games, the Avalanche led at the first intermission just five times and won each time. They did both on Saturday, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 2-0 at Little Caesars Arena.

The Avs didn’t have a lead at the first break in 15 games. They scored the first goal and played the lead the rest of the game.

“We talk all the time about our starts and our readiness,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “I had a good feeling when this one came in.”

Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar scored for the Avs, who improved to 2-1-0 on the road trip and 15-13-0 overall in a game in which many of their problems appeared to be fixed, at least for one night.

Casey Mittelstadt’s pointless eight-game losing streak? It’s over. He had an assist on the Nichushkin goal.

Does he lead the league in goals against in the first period? That’s still true, but Detroit couldn’t get past Alexandar Georgiev in the first 20 minutes despite at least two golden chances.

Speaking of Georgiev, could he recover from the meltdown in Buffalo? Absolutely. Georgiev was exceptional in the first period, and although the Avs were outplayed in several phases of the game, he did his part to keep them in the lead throughout.

How about the fighting power play? One chance, one goal. That’s one of the advantages of dealing with a ridiculously poor penalty shootout in Detroit, which had a 67.5% hit rate before the Colorado game.

It was by no means a perfect game for the Avs – not even close. But against a team that has won three of its last 10 games, Bednar’s club had to showcase its talent and experience and have a near-easy night. They did that.

“Just the good start was huge. Every team has a good approach in the first game against us,” Georgiev said. “We tried to set a good tone here and we succeeded.”

Nichushkin scored the first goal for Colorado. He stormed into the Wings zone and shot the ball through goalkeeper Ville Husso to make it 1-0. Nichushkin’s goal was his sixth of the season and his third straight for the Avs after scoring two late goals two nights earlier in Carolina.

That was the only goal of the period, but Detroit had its chances. In front of goal, Georgiev made a strong post-to-post save to stop Alex DeBrincat. Later in the quarter, Avs blueliner Calvin de Haan turned the puck over and it landed right on Jonatan Berggren’s stick in the slot. Georgiev stopped that too. He also made a nice shoulder save on JT Compher in the second period to keep the Avs in the lead. And then, of course, he was outstanding during the late upset when the Wings’ goalkeeper was pulled.

Colorado finally doubled its lead on its only power play. It only took 28 seconds for Makar to shoot the ball from the spot through traffic to make it 2-0. Both Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen provided assists.

The Wings answered late in the half – a deflection from Lucas Raymond after a shot from captain Dylan Larkin.

Good: Alexandar Georgiev

The rollercoaster season continued for Georgiev. After his brutal performance in Buffalo early in the road trip, Georgiev bounced back and made light work of a struggling team. Even though it wasn’t actually an easy evening. The goalkeeper was locked in from the start. The highlight of his game came in the final moments of regulation time, when Georgiev had to make at least four big saves in the Wings’ 6-on-5 attack.

After the Carolina game, I wrote about Scott Wedgewood’s ability to make a few big saves early on to give the Avs a chance to score first. It was the exact opposite of what the team had seen so often from Georgiev and Justus Annunen.

But Georgiev did it. No matter how many times the Avalanche have played poorly defensively, the goalie making a few saves early on could really change the mood of a night. That wasn’t the case against the Hurricanes, but it was against the Wings.

Bad: Shots on goal

While this may be grasping at straws, it’s puzzling to see the Avs struggle to generate shots so often. Sure, the team has struggled with injury issues all year, but the top talent is still healthy and playing, and even they struggle at times. Are they being exaggerated? Are they being gassed? Perhaps. But it’s nothing out of the ordinary for the ice time they’ve seen for most of the last three seasons.

The Avalanche had 25 shots on goal Saturday. Entering the game, they ranked 11th in the NHL with an average of 29.7 per game. Although they are still in the top half of the league, this is still a step down from previous seasons. Last year they were fifth (33 shots per game). In the 2022-23 season, Colorado had 33.3 shots per game (eighth-best). And in the cup year there were a whopping 35 shots per game, good for fourth place in the league.

Again, it’s not the most alarming statistic, especially considering there are fewer shots on goal across the NHL. But it’s worth keeping an eye on. The 43-shot performance they took in Buffalo was far more common in recent years.