Great Scott! Wedgewood Stands on His Head, Makes 31 Saves As Avs Defeat Utah 2-1 in Home Opener

Defending Home Ice

Scott Wedgewood's brilliant 31-save performance along with tallies from Ross Colton and Nathan MacKinnon helped the Avalanche win 2-1 against the Utah Mammoth in their Home Opener at Ball Arena on Thursday.

“It’s obviously a good way to start it, but I play the same game every time," Wedgewood said. "I’ve just been confident coming into the season, confident here last year [since] I got here. It’s a fun team to play behind and my game is in a good spot. It’s nice when it all comes together. Not every night [is] going to be perfect, but two games, one goal, it’s a nice way to get going.”

With the win, the Avalanche improved to 2-0-0.

"It’s awesome," Wedgewood said about the crowd chanting his name. "I had it once in Team Canada back in World Juniors; they gave me a good roar, but this is the most consistent it’s ever been. It’s fun. I gave them a little, ‘hoorah’ there at the end on the star with the interview, but it boosts you up. It’s obviously fun. They’ve taken to me, I’ve taken to them and it’s been a good fit here."

How It Happened

The Avs opened the scoring when Colton tallied his first goal of the season via a one-timer from the slot off the rush at 10:57 of the opening period. Colton was set up by Jack Drury, who received a cross-ice saucer pass from Victor Olofsson. Samuel Girard began the sequence with a bank pass off the boards to Olofsson, who received the feed at the right point.

“It was a really nice play," Colton said about his goal. "I think it started in the D-zone and then great pass by [Olofsson] over to [Drury] and then, thankfully, he heard me. I was screaming for it pretty loud and he’s got eyes in the back of his head there, I guess. Unbelievable pass by him.”

Utah's Dylan Guenther tied the game at 17:48 of the second period with a power-play goal via a one-timer from the slot.

MacKinnon's first goal of the season, a power-play tally via a left-circle wrist shot, gave the Avs a 2-1 lead at 2:52 of the third period.

Next Up

The Avalanche host the Dallas Stars on Saturday at 7 p.m. MT on Altitude, KTVD-20 and Altitude+.