Recap: Wedgewood is lights out again as Avs shut down Devils 4-0

1 week ago  /  Mile High Hockey  /  Read Time: 2 minutes 41 seconds

Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images


Scott Wedgewood has been tossing nothing but dimes for Colorado since being acquired in a trade last month. Over the Wedge.
Scott Wedgewood was incredible again and the Colorado Avalanche scored a 4-0 shutout victory over the New Jersey Devils Sunday evening at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
For Wedgewood, the shutout was the seventh of his NHL career and his first since January 19, 2023, as a member of the Dallas Stars. The 32-year-old, who was drafted 84th overall by the Devils in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has played extremely well for the Avalanche since being acquired in a trade from the Nashville Predators last month. Ross Colton scored in his second game back after missing 17 games due to a broken foot. The goal was his ninth of the year in just 12 games this season. Casey Mittelstadt also defrosted his cold streak with a two-assist performance and Calvin de Haan also had two assists for Colorado, who have won three of their last four games.
Devils netminder Jake Allen entered the game having won three of his last four starts and six of his last eight. However, a victory was far from sight on this night. He saved 19 of 22 shots.
First Period
Colton struck first for Colorado at 4:07 of the opening frame on a wrist shot to the right of the crease off a sweet pass from Mittelstadt behind the net.
The Devils scored when Jesper Bratt got the puck by Wedgewood, but the goal was waved off when the referee ruled high-sticking on the play. Players are not allowed to contact the puck with their stick above the normal height of the shoulders.
The Devils continued to be on the receiving end of bad luck. Timo Meir nearly nodded the game up at 7:18. He fought tooth and nail in the crease to jam a puck into the net. But after further review, it was determined the play was dead before the puck crossed the line.
Colorado, in the meanwhile, had luck on their side. Logan O’Connor deflected a shot from de Haan to make it a 2-0 game at 14:52.
Second Period
Both teams would go scoreless until 14:36 of the second period when Artturi Lehkonen beat Allen glove side on a breakaway to make it a 3-0 Avalanche lead.
Colorado thoroughly dominated New Jersey in the second period, outshooting their opponents 10-2 in the frame. In an intriguing statistic, 46% of the Avs’ shots for the game came in the second period, with Allen coming up with nine saves.
Third Period
Meier suffered the effects of another highway robbery, this time at the legs of Devon Toews. An open net greeted Meier with open arms, but Toews’ mighty limbs greeted his shot, preventing the Swiss player from notching his 10th goal of the year.
Parker Kelly secured the victory for the Avalanche on an empty-net goal at 16:05 for the 4-0 conclusion.

Takeaways
This was another great victory for the Avalanche and yet another fantastic performance in net from Wedgewood. Jared Bednar has a difficult decision to make. Who should the starter be? Recency bias says Wedgewood. He has played better, but Georgiev has the larger sample size. AG certainly looked solid against Detroit, but as we’re aware, he is prone to being inconsistent.
Looking back at the Red Wings in the 2007-08 season, both Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood split the pipes that season. It ended with them winning the Stanley Cup for the 11th time in franchise history. It’s a little too early to say if Colorado has fixed their goaltending conundrum, but things have been looking great over these past few games.
Colton is back to his scoring ways and his return was a massive boost to a Colorado team that has seen nothing but injuries all season. And Mittelstadt chased off his cold streak with a solid team-first type of day. Are things beginning to change for the Avalanche? We’ll have to wait and see.
Upcoming
The Avalanche (16-13) return on Tuesday to square off against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins (12-13-4) at PPG Paints Arena. Puck drop is at 5 p.m. MT....

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