Lockdown goalies don’t offer discounts. Not even to their coaches. As the Avalanche locker room cleared out Tuesday night, Jussi Parkkila wandered in with a Scott Wedgewood jersey folded over his arm with care. Before Colorado’s longtime goaltending coach could approach the sweater’s namesake, he was interrupted.
“I don’t sign for free anymore,” Wedgewood said, smirking. “Twenty bucks!”
It might’ve been free if Parkkila had caught him after Game 1 against the Wild, when Wedgewood surrendered six goals in a riveting but shambolic Avalanche win. Not after Game 2, a more orderly 5-2 victory highlighted by a performance in net that rewarded Jared Bednar’s patience.
“I just don’t think my habits (in Game 1) were as clean as I wanted them to be,” Wedgewood said. “Tonight, I felt like I was doing what I planned to do each and every night, which kind of helped me see better lanes.”
What he had planned to do, as he prepared for the Minnesota matchup, was to trust his feet. Doing so would better serve his eyes. He said that he struggled to feel comfortable moving around the crease during Game 1 in part because he was dealing with equipment problems, rotating between three different combinations of skates. Those issues were ironed out by Tuesday. “Kind of eased my mind,” Wedgewood said.
He buoyed the Avs with 29 saves on a night they were outshot by eight.
“Really impressive,” Bednar said. “Game 1 obviously wasn’t a good game from him. But I’m gonna group him into the rest of our team on the defending side. We left him hung out to dry a couple times. Gave up way too many high-danger chances. But we gave everyone else on our roster a chance to sort of respond and bounce back, and I felt like it was the right call to go back with him and give him that opportunity. I think he’s earned it. And he did.”
Bednar’s reaction to the series opener stood in stark contrast to the Wild’s. Both teams used two goaltenders throughout the regular season. Wedgewood started 43 games for Colorado, splitting time with Mackenzie Blackwood (36). Minnesota’s Game 1 goalie, Jesper Wallstedt, started 33 in the regular season to Filip Gustavsson’s 49.
Neither coach was entirely committed to one option at all costs entering this second-round playoff series.
Both had an opportunity to make a change after the anarchy of a 9-6 series opener.
Wild coach John Hynes pulled the trigger, benching Wallstedt despite a .924 save percentage in Minnesota’s first-round series. Bednar doubled down on Wedgewood.
Gustavsson allowed goals on the first two shots he faced. It took him nine minutes to record his first save. He finished the night with only 18 — a lackluster .818 save percentage.
“I thought Gus gave us a chance to win,” Hynes said. “The difference in the game was the special teams. Thatap basically what it comes down to.”
“Regardless of the goal-scoring, I think both teams still created,” Wedgewood said, “and I don’t know what the shots ended up being, but it felt relatively similar in pucks on net. And they do a great job creating space, rolling three high, getting guys front of net. It’s a working man’s job, regardless of shot, and thought I did a really good job of it tonight, finding pucks.”
Hynes’ decision sets up another tricky one, with his team down 2-0 in the series. His next moves will appear awkward no matter which course of action he takes. He’ll either make a second goalie change in as many games, or he’ll stick with Gustavsson after an ineffective performance when he has already shown his unwillingness to stick with Wallstedt in the same situation. The third-year Wild coach had expressed confidence in both of his goaltenders before Game 2, praising Gustavsson for his professionalism and support of Wallstedt while on the bench to start the playoffs.
“It could be a little bit of a negative response,” Hynes said, “but (Gustavsson’s) was, ‘I understand the decision.’ As it went on, he wanted to get into the net. But his attitude toward the team and toward Wally was top shelf.”
Gustavsson said that he felt “fine” mentally despite Game 2 being his first start in three weeks.
“I just wait for him to tell me to play,” he said when asked about his reaction to being told he wasn’t starting the playoffs in net last month.
Wedgewood’s approach to individual redemption was through honest self-critique. Watching film of his subpar performance helped him reset emotionally. He found answers in the tape — enough clarity to wash away any lingering frustration.
“Any goal that goes in, ever, I feel like I can solve it,” he said. “Obviously, there’s some crappy bounces that are just bounces. But it’s solvable in the sense of, did you find the (shooting) lane? Did you find the puck? Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve — or no chance? There’s a couple of no-chances throughout your career that you just laugh at. But I think after last game, I would’ve liked to make two or three of those (saves). But some days, you don’t have it.”
He overcame a series of unfortunate events to deliver a steady bounce-back performance. The first goal he allowed was six seconds after Colorado scored, the result of a defensive error by Cale Makar. Early signs were pointing to a repeat of Game 1. But Wedgewood settled in. In the second period, he had to switch masks after a puck snapped the bolt off the top of his original helmet. The replacement had not been game-used until now, he said.
This time, he was unfazed by the equipment malfunction. Ball Arena chanted his name as he denied nine shots on two Minnesota power plays. His save of the night was a rejection of Kirill Kaprizov at the back door. An Avalanche crowd that had been delirious for most of Game 1 spent the sequel in thrall to a more refined display.
“When they get going there and are behind me,” Wedgewood said, “it’s obviously a nice boost for my own ego.”
By the end of the night, it was inflated enough to charge his position coach 20 bucks.
“I thought there wasn’t a guy on our roster who wasn’t better tonight than the other night,” Bednar said. “… That started from the goaltender out.
