In their stunning comeback, the Avalanche finally solved their goaltender debate

Colorado beat Minnesota Game 5, but it was Scott Wedgewood's relief performance that may have written the script for the rest of the playoffs

BY JOEY FREEBURG

May 14, 2026, 12:20 PM Updated: 12:20 pm

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Sometimes, the answer to a question that’s been lingering for weeks arrives in the span of a single game. For the Colorado Avalanche, that game was last night.

On a recent edition of “Stokley and Evans, with Mark Schlereth” on 104.3 The Fan, the hosts broke down Colorado’s remarkable 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals — a win that saw the Avalanche dig themselves out of a 3-0 hole and take control of the game. It was the kind of comeback that will live in franchise’s story for years. But beneath the euphoria, a quieter and arguably more consequential storyline played out between the pipes.

Mackenzie Blackwood got the start. And the wheels fell off almost immediately.

Head coach Jared Bednar, who had publicly backed Blackwood entering the game, was forced to make the same swap he’d made earlier in the series — pulling Blackwood in favor of Scott Wedgewood. This time, Wedgewood entered at the start of the second period and proceeded to slam the door shut. The Avalanche allowed just seven shots on goal over the final two periods and overtime, and Wedgewood did not surrender a single score.

For Mike Evans, the experiment had run its course.

“You wanted to find a reason to get Blackwood in there, you got it,” Evans said. “And now after last night, you learned.”

He didn’t leave much room for ambiguity about what that lesson should be.

“You learned your lesson,” Evans continued. “You can’t go back to him. He’s just too erratic.”

The critique wasn’t personal. Blackwood’s game-to-game volatility has become impossible to overlook at this stage of the postseason.

“With Blackwood, it seems like it’s all or nothing,” Evans said. “Either he’s really really sharp or he’s really really bad.”

That kind of unpredictability is a luxury a team cannot afford in a playoff series. Evans drew a clear distinction between the two goalies and what each one offers from a baseline of reliability.

“I can watch Wedgewood play and feel like, ‘Alright he may not be at his sharpest, (but) I don’t think he’s just gonna go out and lose the game,'” Evans said.

It’s a modest endorsement, but in the context of Colorado’s goaltending situation, modest and dependable is exactly what this team needs. Wedgewood may never steal a series on his own, but after last night, he proved he won’t give one away either.

The Avalanche found their answer. Now, it’s on Bednar to commit to it.