Goaltending concerns rear their ugly head on night of many returns for Avalanche

It was supposed to be a joyous night at Ball Arena.

With Valeri Nichushkin, Jonathan Drouin, and Miles Wood back in the lineup, the Avalanche looked a bit more like the Avalanche people expected to see this season.

Unfortunately, shaky goaltending has become the expectation in Colorado this season, and it reared it's ugly head in a 5-2 loss to the Capitals.

Earlier in the day, Alexandar Georgiev was conspicuously absent from morning skate, although he was seen at the facilities by members of the media.

After skate ended, the Avalanche announced he wasn't going to dress against the Capitals due to an upper-body injury.

He's currently listed as day-to-day and will travel on the upcoming road trip, but with no Georgiev, the net belonged to Justus Annunen.

For a whopping 22 minutes.

The start for Annunen was about as poor a start as you can get from a goaltender.

Washington's first real chance beat him but he was saved by the post.

He wasn't so lucky on the next shot, a one-timer from far out by Jakub Vrana that Annunen was slow to react to.

The next shot might not be on him, but it quite literally was the "next shot," as Connor McMichael beat him from the slot.

Two shots, two goals.

Not great, Bob.

After stopping an odd-man rush late in the opening period, it looked like maybe Annunen would settle in.

But early in the second, an unforced Girard turnover created another chance for McMichael, who deked Josh Manson and beat Annunen on the backhand.

That would be the end of the Finnish goaltenders night.

His final stat line? Six shots against, three goals given up.

His coach was not a fan of the performance.

"First shot, point shot, no screen," Bednar said after the game.

"Second one, no good.

Third one, didn't like that either." That meant it was time for Trent Miner, he of zero NHL minutes.

His first official save in the NHL was a dump-in from center ice.

A few shots later, he had given up his first goal after an offensive zone turnover by Sam Malinski.

He was fine after that, but Colorado really had nothing going offensively, so it didn't matter a whole lot.

It's fair to expect the offense to come around once the top six has some time to gel and get comfortable.

Goaltending? Those concerns will be there until one of their goaltenders shows that they can handle to job for more than just a few games at a time.

Avalanche 2, Capitals 5 What happened: The Capitals held the Avalanche to a season-low 19 shots on net on their way to a decisive victory.

What went right: With their top six back up front, the Avalanche were able to move some players back down the lineup into positions they're probably better suited for.

That meant a real fourth line, and that fourth line contributed at both ends.

Parker Kelly picked up his first goal in an Avalanche uniform early, then assisted on Nikolai Kovalenko's goal in the second.

That trio was not on the ice for a single shot on goal for the Capitals.

"In the minutes they played, they played well," Bednar said of his fourth line.

What went wrong: It was a rough night for the two defensemen named Sam.

Girard had an ugly turnover just prior to the third goal and had another in the third period, while Malinski was outworked by Pierre-Luc Dubois on Washington's fourth goal.

He also had a clear problem with his skate all night, as he fell multiple times throughout the game.

Avalanche goal scorers: Kelly (1), Kovalenko (3) Capitals goal scorers: Vrana (3), McMichael (11, 12), Chychrun (4), Sandin (3) Between the pipes: Justus Annunen's night was short, stopping just three of the six shots he faced before giving way to Trent Miner.

What's next: Colorado heads on the road for four games, starting in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Monday at 5 p.m..

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