Scott Wedgewood finally came unglued and left Colorado’s chances of winning in shards on the ice.
Then, Trent Miner came in and nearly put everything back together.
Wedgewood had been on a heater dating back to late last season, with a 13-0-3 record in his previous 16 starts coming into Thursday’s showdown against the Carolina Hurricanes at Ball Arena. But the goalie’s streak came to an ugly ending in the Avs’ 5-4 shootout defeat, as Wedgewood surrendered four goals on 11 shots in 13:40 of ice time in the opening period.
After the fourth goal, Colorado head coach Jared Bednar had seen enough and pulled Wedgewood in favor of Trent Miner. The 24-year-old, appearing in just his third NHL game after debuting last season, stopped all 20 shots he faced as Colorado stormed back. Then he turned away two of three Carolina shots in the shootout, but Seth Jarvis’ goal in that final OT frame was the difference.
“I was really happy for (Miner),” Bednar said. “I was looking for anything to spark our team. At that point, you’d be ecstatic if you can come back and get a point out of that. Thinking ahead, we’ve got back-to-back (games) coming up, so it gives Wedgie some rest now, and (Miner) comes in and was fantastic.”
Miner is on Colorado’s roster until regular starter Mackenzie Blackwood gets healthy enough to make his season debut. On Thursday, Miner unexpectedly got his first bit of ice time this season because veteran backup Wedgewood didn’t have it.
Wedgewood’s implosion was a combination of shots he should’ve stopped and miscues by teammates that led to breakaways. Bednar blasted Colorado’s first-period effort as “casual defending,” but also laid blame on Wedgewood’s inability to keep the score close.
“It’s not like we were giving up a ton of chances in the first. We might have even out-chanced them in the first, but we found ourselves in a big hole,” Bednar said. “His job is to come up with big saves when we need them.”
Just over three minutes into the game, Carolina’s Eric Robinson corralled a loose puck by the boards in Colorado’s defensive zone and streaked down ice for a clean look on the left side of the net. His snap shot beat Wedgewood up over his right shoulder for a quick 1-0 visiting lead.
After Valeri Nichushkin responded with an equalizer less than a minute later, Colorado gave up a short-handed goal at the 7:17 mark. Gabe Landeskog’s backwards pass toward center ice was ill-advised and picked off by Jarvis, who didn’t waste a 1-on-1 opportunity against Wedgewood. Jarvis faked his shot right then backhanded the puck into the net past Wedgewood, who stood little chance.
About five minutes later, Carolina took control on a shot by Nikolaj Ehlers that deflected off Wedgewood’s blocker pad, then ricocheted off Sebastian Aho’s leg into the net as Aho skated freely in front of the crease. Wedgewood appeared surprised when he realized it was a goal.
Just 59 seconds later, the Hurricanes tacked on another goal that ended Wedgewood’s evening. This time, a turnover by Cale Makar on the side behind the net led to a Logan Stankoven goal. Stankoven was 1-on-1 right in front of the crease with Wedgewood, who stopped the initial shot, but could not control the puck, and it seeped under his left leg pad and into the net.
It was a rare off-night for Wedgewood early in the season. The 33-year-old was lights out through Colorado’s first seven games, posting a 5-0-2 record. Coming into Thursday night, he ranked 10th of 65 goalies in the league with 4.6 goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck, while being second in ice time.
Miner believes Wedgewood’s poor first period was an anomaly.
“I don’t think anything of it,” Miner said. “He’s been money all year, and there were goals tonight that were odd-man rushes that were hard ones to save. Those games are going to happen.”
Miner, a seventh-round pick in the 2019 draft, stopped 13 shots as the Avs scored once in the second and then twice in the third to tie the game. After that, he tallied three more saves in regulation. That included two stellar stops in the waning seconds of the third with Carolina on the power play, rebuffing a slap shot and then blocking the rebound with his leg pad.
In overtime, Miner had four more saves as he stood tall and enabled the Avs to snuff out another Carolina power play. In the shootout, a slick move by Jarvis on the first shot led to a goal, but Miner stopped the next two. The Avs, however, came up empty on the other end as Miner came up just short of his first career win.
“It’s not easy coming in when you’re down, but when you have a second and third like that (offensively), it makes it easier,” Miner said. “It was a fun game to be a part of. … It sucks we couldn’t win, but it was an exciting game, the fans were awesome, and for us to come back like that tonight (and get a point in the standings) was huge.”
Bednar said that he hasn’t decided if Blackwood, who remains on the active roster, will travel to the East Coast for this weekend’s road back-to-back against Boston and New Jersey.
Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.