Alexandar Georgiev earns third start in row with excellent play
Matt Duchene of the Nashville Predators tries to deflect a shot on goalie Alexandar Georgiev of the Rangers during the first period at Bridgestone Arena on November 02, 2019. Credit: Getty Images/Frederick Breedon
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — After two straight impressive wins, not even coach/mixologist David Quinn seems to want to change anything right now with the Rangers. He’ll make an exception if No. 1 center Mika Zibanejad is ready to play Monday against Ottawa at Madison Square Garden, but other than that, Quinn would just as soon stay with the same formula that worked in wins over Tampa Bay on Tuesday and Nashville on Saturday.
Part of that formula is that Alexandar Georgiev has played well in goal in both games. As a result, the 23-year-old Russian will make his third straight start when the Rangers face the Senators (3-8-1), who have the fewest points in the NHL.
“He’s played very well,’’ Quinn said of Georgiev after Sunday’s practice. “Hank [Lundqvist] and I talked today, and that’s going to happen to Hank too . . . It’s not that Hank hasn’t played well, it’s just, we’ve got a little bit of mojo going and Georgie has benefited from us playing well in front of him.’’
Quinn said Lundqvist, who is 2-3 with a 3.58 goals-against average and .906 save percentage, will play Wednesday when the Rangers host the Detroit Red Wings.
In the meantime, Georgiev, who is 3-2-1 with a 2.27 goals-against average and .933 save percentage, said after Saturday’s win that he is feeling “quite sharp’’ right now.
On Sunday, he said he is happy to get a string of games because it makes it easier to maintain a rhythm. However, after spending the first half of last season as a backup to Lundqvist, when he sat for long stretches between starts and even went down to the minors a couple of times to get some work, he said he isn’t allowing himself to get comfortable with the more consistent workload.
“Not really,’’ he said. “It’s more day-to-day, and I’m happy that we got to win the last two games and I’m happy that I get to play again. I don’t think about it too much.’’
Notes & quotes: Zibanejad, who has missed two games with an upper-body injury that Quinn has said is not a concussion, skated on his own Sunday before the team practiced. Quinn said Zibanejad will be a possibility to play Monday if he takes part in the morning skate and all goes well. “He felt much better today,’’ Quinn said. “He had a big step in the right direction, so we’ll see.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
