Avalanche officially have third goalie after Georgiev struggles again

The Colorado Avalanche officially have a third goalie coming to try to help the team, after Alexandar Georgiev dropped to 1-4 on the season on Monday night.

The Avs announced that Kaapo Kahkonen is finished with his conditioning assignment with the Colorado Eagles and is slated to join the pro roster.

UPDATE: Kaapo Kahkonen is returning from conditioning assignment. pic.twitter.com/CXFNVTO8Tr

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 29, 2024

Georgiev gave up three goals against the Blackhawks on Monday, but all of them came in the first period and the Avs found themselves down 3-1. There had to have been a “here we go again” vibe from the players, and they could never dig out of the hole. Chicago scored two empty-net goals to win the game 5-2.

On the season to go along with his poor record, Georgiev is giving up 4.62 goals per game and has just an .822 save percentage. Colorado rode Justus Annunen to four wins in a row, but he got the night off against the Blackhawks because it was a back-to-back.

What does this mean moving forward? Well Annunen is clearly the No. 1 goalie. That decision will likely be affirmed if and when he takes the ice tomorrow night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. But Kahkonen provides some competition for Georgiev in the short term, hopefully prompting him to wake up.

The problem is Kahkonen did not have great numbers last year. He posted a combined 7-24-3 record with the Sharks and Devils, and .898 save percentage a 3.64 goals against per game. The Avs claimed him off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets earlier this month.

In his two starts with the Eagles, Kahkonen stopped 57 of 62 shots.

We’ll see how this all shakes out, but clearly the Avalanche have some goalie drama. It appears mostly to be at the backup position, but that’s not a conversation anyone expected Georgiev to be in just a few weeks ago.

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