SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — It didn't take long before goaltenders Mackenzie Blackwood and Alexandar Georgiev found themselves on opposite ends of the rink stopping shots from their former teammates.
Blackwood and Georgiev, traded for each other last week, started in net for the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks, respectively, on Thursday night. The deal also sent Givani Smith and a fifth-round draft pick to San Jose, and Nikolai Kovalenko and two draft picks to Colorado. Smith and Kovalenko were both on the ice for Colorado's 4-2 victory.
Blackwood got the better of the goalie matchup, making 32 saves. Georgiev stopped 27 shots for the Sharks.
The Avalanche netminder said he settled in right away and enjoyed the game.
"Obviously, you've got a lot of friends over there, but at the end of the day, it's still a hockey game,” Blackwood explained. “Got to go out there and do your job.”
Blackwood resurrected his career with the Sharks, who acquired him from the New Jersey Devils for a sixth-round draft pick in June 2023. He had a 3.45 goals-against average with an .899 save percentage in 44 games for a struggling San Jose squad last season, and a 3.00 GAA and .909 save percentage in 19 games with the team this season.
The goalie received applause from Sharks fans when he was introduced.
He credited San Jose general manager Mike Grier, an assistant coach with the Devils when Blackwood was there, for giving him a chance after the goalie was hampered by injuries in New Jersey.
“When I got healthy, he believed in me, brought me in and gave me a chance to play,” Blackwood said before the game. “I got myself turned around, got my game up and back on track. He was a big part of giving me the opportunity to do so.”
Despite spending just a little more than one season with the Sharks, Blackwood said his former teammates are “still like brothers" to him, emphasizing the bond they developed in a short period of time. Blackwood, a pending free agent, would have been interested in signing an extension with the Sharks but said the rebuilding team is “not in the same place as me and my career.”
The 28-year-old Blackwood went from the NHL’s worst team last season to a Colorado club with Stanley Cup aspirations that got off to a slow start this season — partly due to goaltending woes. The Avalanche, who entered the day tied for the second Western Conference wild card, have used four goalies in the first 30 games.
Among them was Georgiev, who led the league in wins last season and had an 86-41-11 record with the Avalanche. But he struggled to begin this season. In addition to trading Georgiev, Colorado also dealt backup Justus Annunen to Nashville for goalie Scott Wedgewood on Nov. 30.
Georgiev said Thursday night's game was “a little weird” because he knew his former teammates' tendencies, which he said is not always a good thing because he didn't want to overcommit.
“It wasn't too emotional,” Georgiev said. “I just tried to play it as any normal game, not overcommit and just enjoy it. It's fun to play against those guys, too. They're buzzing. They're a very fast team."
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said before the game that Blackwood has been “fantastic” so far, and that he and Wedgewood are both veterans who feel comfortable in their own skin and are a “little more on the outgoing side of things than our two previous goaltenders.”
Colorado is 6-3 since trading for Wedgewood, with Blackwood entering the mix two weeks later. Avalanche forward Ross Colton said Blackwood has “brought some confidence” to the team.
“Both of them have been awesome,” Colton said. “They’re great in the locker room as well. Just in the room, it feels different, which is a good thing.”
___
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Eric He, The Associated Press
