The Colorado Avalanche’s flawless playoff journey came to an abrupt halt, and now they face a critical goaltending decision heading into Game 4.
Scott Wedgewood and the top-seeded Western Conference team had dominated their postseason run with six straight victories before encountering a determined Minnesota Wild squad that delivered a decisive 5-1 defeat on home ice during Saturday’s Game 3 of their second-round matchup.
The defeat itself was troubling enough, but equally telling was head coach Jared Bednar’s choice to remove Wedgewood from the net after Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman scored a power-play goal just 4:23 into the middle period, extending the Wild’s advantage to 3-0.
The 33-year-old Wedgewood had been between the pipes for every playoff minute until he was replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood.
Throughout his eight-year NHL career, Wedgewood has primarily served as a backup netminder, but he appeared in a career-best 45 regular season contests for Colorado this year. During their opening playoff round, he was exceptional, surrendering only five goals as the Avalanche swept the Los Angeles Kings in four games.
However, the second round has presented different challenges. Wedgewood gave up six goals in the series opener against Minnesota, though Colorado managed a wild 9-6 victory. He bounced back strongly in Game 2 on Tuesday, making 29 saves in a 5-2 Colorado triumph.
But by Saturday’s Game 3, Bednar had seen enough to make a change.
“I thought that Wedgie was playing hard, and I think maybe he looked a little too aggressive on a couple of those,” Bednar said. “Like the penalty kill, it ends up without a stint of getting aggressive coming across, and then they find the back of the net. The next one, gets a piece of Taser. I think it’s a pass, and it ends up an empty net. He’s out too far, and I just felt like from what I’ve seen out of Blackwood here recently, a rested guy and a guy that we trust, I felt like it was a good opportunity to get him in and see if it sparked our group.”
Before his removal, Wedgewood recorded nine saves while surrendering three goals. Blackwood then entered and made 12 stops, allowing just one goal over his 32:27 of ice time. Minnesota capped off their victory with an empty-net goal from Matt Boldy.
The goaltending tandem, known as “The Lumber Yard,” shared duties almost equally during Colorado’s outstanding regular season that produced 121 points with a 55-16-11 record. Wedgewood compiled a 31-6-1 record with a 2.02 goals-against average and .921 save percentage, while Blackwood achieved a 23-10-2 mark with a 2.51 goals-against average and .902 save percentage.
“We’ll have a decision to make, but there’s a decision to make every night,” Bednar said. “You know, some are easier than others. I thought Blackwood was good. … So, yeah, we’ll talk about it and make a decision.”
