Wedgewood cherishes 'long road' to Western 2nd Round with Avalanche

LOS ANGELES -- Just more than a week ago, Scott Wedgewood started his first Stanley Cup Playoff game for the Colorado Avalanche, the longtime backup goalie earning the assignment with a strong regular season.

He made 24 saves to help the Avalanche advance with a 5-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday to complete a four-game sweep of the Western Conference First Round.

Now it looks like he's had a career full of postseason starts.

"Long road and really cool," Wedgewood said. "Awesome to do it with this team, this group of guys, and the fan base. Everything's been smooth sailing since I got here, and it's really fun to play in the playoffs, that's for sure."

For Wedgewood, it's been fun and effective. The 33-year-old enters the second round 4-0 with a 1.21 goals-against average and .950 save percentage. The five goals allowed are the second-lowest total by an Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques goalie in a best-of-7 series (minimum four games). Philipp Grubauer gave up four to the Arizona Coyotes in the 2020 first round and Patrick Roy four against the Florida Panthers in the 1996 Stanley Cup Final.

"Give Wedgewood credit," Kings coach D.J. Smith said after Game 3. "This guy looks like he's putting his name on the circuit as a big-time goalie."

He's been doing it since October. Mackenzie Blackwood was Colorado's projected starter heading into the regular season, but he was injured during the offseason and didn't make his regular-season debut until Nov. 1. Wedgewood was 7-1-2 with a 2.53 GAA and .900 save percentage in October and finished 31-6-6 with a 2.02 GAA, .921 save percentage and an NHL career-high four shutouts. 

"I worked for it," Wedgewood said. "It's not like it just came. I could write three books on all the off days that I trained and days in the summer. I could have just golfed and sat down, but I'd golf, I'd come home and do stuff. You pat yourself on the back, and people in my circle know what I've done to get here and find those … just inches it's all it is. You find an inch here, you gain an inch there, and all sudden you're still in the League and find an opportunity."

It's been quite the road to get here. Wedgewood is playing for his fifth NHL team and has been the backup everywhere he's been. That includes behind Jake Oettinger with the Dallas Stars from 2022-24, the Avalanche's opponent if the Stars eliminate the Minnesota Wild with that series tied 2-2.

"I think it's great," Oettinger said. "He has worked for everything that he has ever got. He's a guy that shows up to the rink every day and works his butt off, loves the position, loves trying to get better. 

"To see his success is not surprising to anyone that knows him or has been around him. He's just a great dude all around. I've had so many great goalie partners in my career and he's one of them. I loved playing with him. I was sad to see him go, but happy how well he's done."

You'd have to go back to Albany, when Wedgewood played for the American Hockey League affiliate of the New Jersey Devils now based in Utica, New York, to see him getting the bulk of the work (36 games in 2014-15).

Rick Kowalsky, Wedgewood's coach in Albany, said he just needed the opportunity.

"You know with goaltenders, sometimes it takes a while for them to mature," he said. "I think he just stuck with it first and foremost. He was such a good teammate and worked hard and worked at his craft and obviously that hasn't changed.

"He's done well as a backup and he's probably held the fort at times as a backup, when (he) really needed to come into replace a guy or a guy goes down and gets hurt. He's managed to stay in the League and continue to earn contracts. It's not to say he hasn't played well at other places. It's has he been able to get the net on this kind of stage for this length of time? To his credit, he's worked hard to get to this point. He's kind of grabbed the moment."

Wedgewood has been one of the feel-good stories of the postseason. The Avalanche could still turn to Blackwood with coach Jared Bednar saying that option would be open like it was in the regular season, but right now it's Wedgewood's net and he's running with it.

"I couldn't be prouder of my group and the people that I work with," Wedgewood said. "Just to play with these guys and get a chance to win, it's been awesome."

NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen contributed to this report