Avalanche remain confident in goaltending duo entering Game 4 against Wild

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jared Bednar has said it from the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs: the Colorado Avalanche coach is perfectly comfortable switching back and forth between goaltenders Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood.

Now it remains to be seen if the switch is on and if Blackwood gets his first start of this postseason when the Avalanche play the Minnesota Wild in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round at Grand Casino Arena on Monday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Wedgewood has made seven straight starts for the Avalanche, who lead the Wild 2-1 in the best-of-7 series. He’s 6-1 with a 2.45 goals-against average and .911 save percentage, but the 33-year-old was pulled early in the second period of the Avalanche’s 5-1 loss to the Wild on Saturday after he allowed three goals on 12 shots.

Blackwood, who hadn’t played since making 30 saves in a 3-1 win against the Calgary Flames on April 14, stopped 12 of 13 shots in relief.

“I mean, I played last year, so I kind of knew what to expect. But, coming in to the middle of the game, they're kind of already jumping and humming, and you're trying to pick up where they're at,” Blackwood said after the game. “So, I think we did a better job as the game went on, but maybe a couple bad bounces and we didn't have our best stuff tonight. But I think we'll bring it next game for sure.”

It wouldn’t be a massive surprise if there is a goalie switch. The Avalanche did it plenty during the regular season, when Wedgewood had 43 starts, Blackwood 36. Wedgewood was 31-6-6 with a 2.02 GAA, .921 save percentage and four shutouts while Blackwood was 23-10-2 with a 2.51 GAA, .904 save percentage and three shutouts.

The two combined to win the William M. Jennings Trophy, presented annually to the goaltender(s) who plays a minimum of 25 games for the team allowing the fewest goals during the regular season, for allowing a League-low 203 goals, including those deciding a shootout.

“(They’re) both good pros, hard workers. They take the time when they’re not starting to sharpen up their game. They both want to help our team win, they’re both capable of helping our team win,” Bednar said of the goalies, who did skate on Sunday with defenseman Josh Manson (upper body) and forward Joel Kiviranta (undisclosed), who are both recovering from injuries. Center Zakhar Bardakov, who has been a healthy scratch thus far in the postseason, also skated with the group.

“I think when you see a guy going good, you want to keep playing him and if the game starts to drop off a bit, you go to the next guy and he’s perfectly ready and capable of stepping in and helping our team win. Regardless of which guy it is, they seem to come in better and stronger after a break.”

Blackwood is the one coming in off a break, and he looked good despite not playing for nearly a month. The only goal he allowed, from Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber at 13:31 of the second period, was a bit of a strange one. Vladimir Tarasenko's snap shot from the left circle rebounded off Blackwood and then bounced off Faber's right leg into the net.

“I thought Blackwood was good,” Bednar said following Saturday’s game. “It’s a little bit of a tough break, bad angle shot, hits him, does his job, saves it and it goes back off Faber’s pads. It’s the only goal he gave up. He made some big saves in there, gave us a good chance. We’ll talk about it and make a decision.”

Wedgewood has been a feel-good story for the Avalanche. He hadn’t started a Stanley Cup Playoff game as the first round began. Blackwood made his NHL playoff debut in the first round last season, going 3-4 with a 2.71 GAA, .892 save percentage and one shutout in seven starts for the Avalanche, who lost to the Dallas Stars in that series.

“They’re competitive, so they want to earn the net and get the net. I think all those little factors add up. And they’re in tremendous support of one another, too. They’re good teammates and good net mates for each other.”

Indeed, Wedgewood and Blackwood have been teammates twice before this season: with Albany, the former AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils, in 2016-17 and with the Devils from 2020-22. Theirs is a competition, but a friendly one.

The decision will be made soon enough. Regardless of who’s in net, however, the Avalanche know they have to be better than they were on Saturday.

“We’ve got good confidence in both of them. It’s a luxury to have two good goalies and they’ve both shown all year that they can make big saves and show up for us in big moments,” Avalanche forward Jack Drury said. “It’s really nice for our team that no matter who’s playing we have full confidence in them, and we know we need to play harder in front of whoever it is tomorrow. I think whoever we have, we’ll be comfortable with it. We’ll get great goaltending no matter who it is.”