Avs pull Wedgewood, 'have a decision to make'

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It appears the Colorado Avalanche are facing a goaltending decision. During the Avalanche's 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals Saturday, several moving parts for Colorado came to a screeching halt, including its goaltending. Scott Wedgewood, who has started every game for the Avalanche this postseason, was pulled early in the second period after allowing three goals on 12 shots in 24:23. He was replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood, who stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced over the remaining 32:27 during the Avalanche's first loss of the postseason. "We'll have a decision to make, but there's a decision to make every night," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said when asked who'll start Game 4. "You know, some are easier than others. I thought Blackwood was good. ... So, yeah, we'll talk about it and make a decision." Wedgewood, a career backup, had one of the strongest regular seasons of any netminder while playing alongside Blackwood, helping the Avalanche finish with the best record in the NHL. Wedgewood, 33, went 31-6-6 and led the league with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. He allowed five goals in the Avalanche's four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Kings in the quarterfinal round before allowing six goals in the Avs' 9-6 win over the Wild in Game 1. Wedgewood stopped 29 of 31 shots to help the Avs take a 2-0 lead before the series shifted to St. Paul for Games 3 and 4. Minnesota took a 1-0 lead when Kirill Kaprizov, who finished with three points, got into the heart of the Colorado zone on a 4-on-4 sequence. Kaprizov was closing in on net when he hesitated and made Wedgewood aggressively attempt to poke check the puck away before Kaprizov lifted the puck into the net with 15:11 left in the period. The Wild pushed the lead to 2-0 less than two minutes later when Quinn Hughes, on a 4-on-3 power-play, launched a wrist shot that beat Wedgewood with 16:44 left in the opening frame. Minnesota added to its lead in the second when Mats Zuccarello fired a puck on net that went off Devon Toews, was redirected by Ryan Hartman and got past Wedgewood less than five minutes into the period. Bednar then pulled Wedgewood for Blackwood. "I thought that Wedgie was playing hard, and I think maybe he looked a little too aggressive on a couple of those," Bednar said. "Like the penalty kill, it ends up without a stint of getting aggressive coming across, and then they find the back of the net. The next one, gets a piece of Taser. I think it's a pass, and it ends up an empty net. He's out too far, and I just felt like from what I've seen out of Blackwood here recently, a rested guy and a guy that we trust, I felt like it was a good opportunity to get him in and see if it sparked our group." The Avalanche cut their deficit to 3-1 when Nathan MacKinnon scored a power-play goal with less than seven minutes remaining. But Brock Faber, who also finished with three points, answered 20 seconds later to increase the Wild's lead to 4-1. Blackwood, who last played in the Avalanche's 3-1 win against the Calgary Flames on April 14, said he has worked hard to remain sharp in practice. "You never know [when a goalie could come in]. I've seen games where they score on the first three shots of the game and then nothing the rest of the night," Blackwood said. "You never really know how it's going to go. You're just trying to be ready if you go, do the best you can, help your team and cheer on the other guy." Despite Faber's goal, Blackwood brought some consistency to the Avalanche. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Avs had a 56% shot-share in 5-on-5 play and controlled the puck for most of the game. During the second period, they had a 74% shot-share in 5-on-5 only but had just one high-danger chance in the frame. The Avalanche's finished with 36 shots, and Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, who returned after being benched in Game 2, kept Colorado at bay. Blackwood's strongest moments might have come in the third period. Hughes, who finished with two points, skated around the coverage and got to the side of the net before feeding a pass to Danila Yurov, whose shot was denied by Blackwood. Blackwood had eight saves in a final frame that the Wild controlled so thoroughly that many fans at Grand Casino Arena rose to their feet in appreciation. The series resumes at 8 p.m. ET on Monday. "There's momentum shifts in every game and listen, I'm not saying that we didn't come out, work hard," Bednar said. "I'm just saying there was a level that we didn't get to. I saw it in flashes with some guys, not with others. If you're going to win a hockey game against a really good team in the playoffs, it has to be everyone and everyone all the time. It's not here or there from certain guys. It has to be everybody."

Avs pull Wedgewood, 'have a decision to make'

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