NEW YORK — Alexandar Georgiev skated out of his crease, pumped his fist and celebrated on the ice at Madison Sq. Backyard on Tuesday evening. Solely this time, the followers weren’t cheering his victory.

Georgiev made 44 saves and stopped three of 4 shootout makes an attempt to guide the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers. Georgiev spent the primary 5 years of his NHL profession with the Rangers earlier than being traded to the Stanley Cup-champion Avalanche in July.

“Fairly particular. It doesn’t get significantly better than a good shootout win,” stated Georgiev, who improved to 4-0-1 on the season. “The constructing is superior. Introduced a variety of good recollections again. However for me, it was simply enjoying the sport and letting it come to [me].”

The sport featured a sterling duel between Georgiev and the goalie he backed up in New York final season: Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin, who had 42 saves. Shesterkin gave up shootout targets to Mikko Rantanen and Evan Rodrigues. Georgiev was overwhelmed by Artemi Panarin however stopped winger Alexis Lafreniere on the Rangers’ closing shootout try.

“It was a terrific recreation for each goalies, I believe. You simply attempt to be centered in your job. You possibly can’t do a lot about what’s occurring within the different finish. So I wasn’t monitoring what number of pictures or scoring possibilities have been occurring,” Georgiev stated.

Colorado coach Jared Bednar stated each goalies have been distinctive, however he was happy that his was just a bit bit higher.

“I’m actually joyful for him. Each recreation’s an enormous recreation, however if you’re coming in towards your former staff and enjoying towards your previous teammates, there’s somewhat added incentive,” Bednar stated of Georgiev. “I’m joyful to see our man come away with two factors and the win.”

Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar stated the staff knew how a lot the sport meant to Georgiev.

“Clearly, we needed to have the ability to get this milestone for him. None of us actually marked it on our calendar, however all of us love Georgie. We’re actually joyful we acquired the win, and the win was due to him,” Makar stated.

The Avalanche acquired a power-play aim from Valeri Nichushkin and a short-handed rating from Logan O’Connor, coming after a uncommon puck-handling misplay from Shesterkin. The Rangers’ targets have been courtesy of Barclay Goodrow and Adam Fox.

Georgiev stated he didn’t have an opportunity to meet up with any of his former teammates earlier than the sport and hoped to take action in a while.

“A number of nice recollections. A number of nice gamers and the employees, the staff. I strive to consider positives. And there have been a variety of these [here],” he stated.