After trailing 4-0 early in the first period, new goaltender Scott Wedgewood came on in relief, and the team rallied for a 5-4 victory against the Buffalo Sabres.
The game looked bleak through the first 12 minutes for the Colorado Avalanche. In fact, things appeared to be over for this team after a goal from Buffalo forward Buck Malenstyn got past Alexandar Georgiev.
Scott Wedgewood’s Avalanche debut
Enter Scott Wedgewood, the newest addition to the Avalanche roster. The organization opted for veteran experience to back Georgiev in a trade with the Nashville Predators, and it appears to be a successful one for the Avalanche so far.
Related: New Avalanche goaltender debuts in tough situation against Sabers
The 32-year-old goaltender made 22 out of 22 saves, managing to “whitewash” the Buffalo Sabers during his first stint in the slot. His biggest save came near the end of the first half, but remained solid throughout the next 40 minutes.
The Avs and Scott Wedgewood shut the door on the Buffalo Sabers with an INSANE 5-4 comeback victory.
Wedgewood’s first look with the Avalanche was nothing short of impressive. It was by far his best save of the evening.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/tyVHY4oUWR
-Bailey Curtis (@baileyycurtis) December 4, 2024
Wearing gear that still bears his previous team’s colors, including a Predators-themed helmet with Avalanche stickers in various places, Wedgewood looked solid throughout the 48 minutes he played This evening. Although he looked a little frantic at first, his growing confidence in front of the net led to him being named the 3rd star of the game. More hearteningly, he also received the big hat in the locker room after the match, an honor voted on by the team and awarded to the player with the most outstanding performance.
Wedgewood seemed delighted with the result after forward Valeri Nichushkin presented his hat:
“Boys, I said it when I got traded here: you never get out. It was fun.”
A monster of a third period
The Avalanche found some life in the second period thanks to a goal from forward Nathan MacKinnon, but the real star of the show was the four-goal third period. MacKinnon also scored the tying goal, but Artturi Lehkonen and his presence in net won the game for this Avalanche team.
Joel Kiviranta and Logan O’Connor also had goals that Buffalo couldn’t answer in the third, despite a stellar performance from Ukka-Pekko Luukkonen.
Head coach Jared Bednar thanked the leadership group during his postgame availability when talking about getting his game back:
“We said a few things (and gave) more details that we needed and what we needed to see from each guy if we wanted to get back in this game…but for the most part, they knew we needed to be more competitive than we were in the first period and start playing our game. We were just sitting there and hoping they would give us the puck back and they never did, they put it in the back of our net. .. This is not the start we wanted, but it’s nice to see our team dig in and come back to get the two points.”
What’s next?
The next stop on their Colorado road trip takes them to Raleigh, North Carolina, where they will face the Carolina Hurricanes in their second and final meeting of the season.
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