5 Factors Behind the Avalanche’s Perfect Start to 2023-24
Don’t look now but the Colorado Avalanche are one of three teams – along with the Boston Bruins and Vegas Golden Knights – to have a perfect record through the first two weeks of the 2023-24 NHL season.
The Avalanche are regularly icing a virtually healthy lineup for the first time in over a year and, as a result, have returned to the team that ran roughshod over the league en route to capturing the 2022 Stanley Cup. A 5-0-0 record after five games coupled with a plus-13 goal differential (third in the league) has the team humming, and they look poised to once again make noise in the playoffs.
Here’s a look at the five key factors behind Colorado’s perfect start and how likely the underlying trends are to persist through the season.
Georgiev Making an Early Case for the Vezina Trophy
Show me a Stanley Cup contender, and I’ll point you toward the elite goaltender standing in their crease. So far, the Avalanche and 27-year-old netminder Alexandar Georgiev are no exception. Fresh off of a strong debut campaign after being acquired from the New York Rangers during the 2022 offseason, the Avalanche starter has somehow elevated his play to an even higher level in 2023-24.
Georgiev ranks fifth in both save percentage (.943 SV%) and goals-against average (1.58 GAA) among goalies to have made at least two starts and has saved the most goals above expected (plus-7.64 GSAx) in the league.
Apart from his sparkling boxscore statistics, Georgiev’s consistency has been on full display. He’s allowed more than two goals in a game only once through five appearances and conceded one or fewer on three occasions. He also leads the league in starts with an SV% above .900.
The Avalanche are an elite team at both ends of the ice, but the man in the net is anchoring the entire operation. If that area of the roster is unsettled, so is the rest of the lineup.
Avalanche’s Stars Producing Like Stars
We know a team needs its stars to play up to expectations and outperform their cap hit to succeed, but that’s not always the case. The conversations around bad contracts dominate more than almost any other topic, leaving space for players who provide surplus value year over year. As has been the case since the Avalanche started their ascent to the NHL mountaintop, their stars are once again propelling the team to success.
Buoyed by Georgiev’s star turn in the crease, Mikko Rantanen (eight points in five games), Nathan MacKinnon (six in five), and Cale Makar (six in five) are all firing at a point-per-game pace or better. Each member of that triumvirate is also generating at least three shots per game, with MacKinnon tied for the league lead, averaging six shots a night.
