DENVER — The Avalanche are asking starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev to do more than what he was brought in to do.

Darcy Kuemper wasn’t asked to play behind a team giving up turnovers at this rate. Pavel Francouz wasn’t stealing games behind an inconsistent defensive unit. Georgiev is playing behind the worst defensive numbers we’ve seen from this era of Avalanche hockey. And like the rest of the team, his game is plummeting.

Saturday’s 7-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets went about as bad as it could for Colorado. Especially the first period. You’d expect a better performance a week before the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs, hosting the team the Avs are facing in the first round in a game that could determine who gets home-ice advantage. But instead, the Avalanche had their worst period of the year. And it carried over for the rest of the matinee at Ball Arena.

They took two penalties and the Jets scored on both. They gave up four goals on 15 shots — two of which were separated by 10 seconds — and Georgiev was pulled before the period was over. And to make matters worse, Samuel Girard collided with Ross Colton and left the game because of the friendly fire. He did not return (concussion protocol).

“You can’t be forgetting why it ended up like that,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “Especially when you gotta play them at the most important time of the year.”

This has been a theme in recent weeks. The Avalanche entered the last portion of the season preparing for a handful of matchups against the best teams in the league. Over the last five games, they’ve won twice, both against the non-playoff-bound Minnesota Wild, while suffering bad losses to Winnipeg, Dallas and Edmonton.

There have been several games in recent memory where Georgiev’s poor play has hindered the Avs’ ability to steal a game. But we’ve not seen much of Georgiev’s poor play ruining an otherwise great game for the rest of the team. He’s not winning you games right now. But he’s also not losing them.

So where do Bednar and his staff go from here? Is it time to move on from Georgiev and hand the reigns to Justus Annunen? I certainly think so. It’s worth a shot. But it’s not that easy. And the second period, where Annunen stopped just four of seven shots proved that.

“I didn’t love either one of them so we’ll go back to our starter,” Bednar said, confirming Georgiev will get the nod Sunday in Vegas.

If the Avs expect to continue to play this way, to turn the puck over at will, struggle on the PK and give the opposition this much open ice, then Annunen isn’t saving you. You could argue the guy at the other end — the best version of Vezina Trophy hopeful Connor Hellebuyck wouldn’t even be able to save you.

But something must be said about the team’s confidence in Georgiev. Before this relief appearance, the Avs had played well in front of Annunen. It’s almost as if the team feels better with him in goal and struggles to trust their starter. It’s also not out of the ordinary for a team to rally behind a young rookie netminder for a long playoff run.

But the second period proved it’ll take more than that. If the Avs are a better team in front of Annunen, they’ll need to show it against a Stanley Cup contender. You can have all the feel-good performances you want against Minnesota, Calgary, Chicago and other non-playoff teams. But it won’t matter if the goalie and the team in front of him can’t operate as a cohesive unit against playoff teams. Especially the one you’re facing to open the postseason.

Georgiev has been a problem but he isn’t the problem. The problems lie within the full team effort. It’s that simple.

Annunen won’t start against Vegas on Sunday but depending on how that game goes, he might be tasked with stepping up for an opportunity to start the postseason in the finale on April 18. Regardless, if the same team shows up against the Jets next week, it’ll likely be another one-and-done postseason for the Avalanche.

It won’t matter who the goalie is.