The Colorado Avalanche won a thrilling 6-5 overtime game at the expense of the hapless Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres were up 5-3 on the Avalanche with a little over three minutes to go before blowing a two-goal lead. The Sabres gave up the equalizer with under ten seconds to go in the third.
Then, Devon Toews ended the game on a fantastic breakaway goal. As my colleague Sean McKenna has pointed out, Toews has been money in the bank during the Avs’ recent hot streak.
From a Sabres fan’s perspective, this loss was absolutely horrifying. Thursday night’s game summed up everything wrong with the Sabres this season.
For an Avalanche fan, yes, the win was heart-pumping. But it didn’t have to be that way. The Avs didn’t have to dig themselves into a 5-3 hole with three minutes to go in the game. Kudos to the team for coming back, but moving forward, fans expect to see the Avs control the game against a team like the Sabres from start to finish.
Be that as it may, the Avs won and that’s what counts, notwithstanding the controversial goal scored while Scott Wedgewood lay in pain on the ice. Everyone in the NHL blew that call, but that’s water under the bridge as far as the game goes.
As far as Scott Wedgewood goes, it’s far from that. The Avs lose their backup goaltender at an inauspicious time in the season. The schedule is packed in January, leading up to the 4 Nations in February.
Given the two-week layoff in the season, the league plans to get in as many games as possible before the tournament. The Colorado Avalanche will play five games in about eight days this upcoming week. That pace requires the team to use its backup goaltender to give starter MacKenzie Blackwood time to regroup.
At this point, it’s Trent Miner who gets the call-up. Here’s hoping Miner makes the most of the biggest audition of his career.
Colorado Avalanche lose Wedgewood in costly win
Now, let’s focus on Scott Wedgewood. The news is not good out of the gate. Coach Jared Bednar stated following practice that Wedgewood will be evaluated. However, the team suspects it will be a week-to-week situation.
Jared Bednar said that Scott Wedgewood is still being evaluated, he’s anticipating week-to-week
— Meghan Angley (@megangley) January 3, 2025
Week-to-week typically means four to six weeks. While there’s no telling what actually happened to Wedgewood, it looks like a knee ligament sprain or perhaps an ankle issue. I’m not a doctor, so let’s wait for the doctors to sort it out.
In the meantime, Wedgewood’s loss is something the Avalanche can ill afford. Just when the team seemed like it was finally at full strength, the loss of such a key team member puts a serious dent in the entire situation.
Of course, it’s not a death blow. The Avs can survive without Wedgewood. But the problem is that the Avs are thin behind Wedgewood and Blackwood. The Avs cannot afford to ride Blackwood the whole way as that could open the door to fatigue, injury, or both.
The Avs will be fine. The team will continue to win. However, they cannot continue winning 6-5 hockey games. They’ll eventually run into good teams that won’t play that sort of style. So, the time is here for the Avs to tighten the belt and play solid hockey in front of their netminders.