Game Recap: Scott Wedgewood shines again as the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 4-0

About the wedge.

Scott Wedgewood was incredible again and the Colorado Avalanche posted a 4-0 shutout win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night at the 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 with a broken foot. The goal was his ninth of the year in just 12 games this season. Casey Mittelstadt also ended his cold streak with a two-assist performance and Calvin de Haan also had two assists for Colorado, which has won three of its last four games.

Devils goaltender Jake Allen came into the game having won three of his last four starts and six of his last eight. However, a victory was far from being in sight that evening. He saved 19 of 22 shots.

First period

Colton scored the first goal for Colorado at 4:07 of the first frame with a wrist shot to the right of the goal crease after a great pass from Mittelstadt behind the net.

The Devils scored when Jesper Bratt got the puck from Wedgewood, but the goal was disallowed when the referee ruled the play to be held up. Players are not permitted to touch the puck with their stick beyond normal shoulder height.

The Devils continued to have bad luck. Timo Meir almost decided the game with 7:18. He fought with all his might in the goal area to hammer a puck into the net. However, upon further review, it was determined that play was dead before the puck crossed the line.

Colorado, meanwhile, had luck on its side. Logan O’Connor deflected a shot from de Haan to make it 2-0 at 14:52.

Second period

Both teams remained scoreless until 14:36 ​​of the second period, when Artturi Lehkonen beat Allen Glove Side on a breakaway to give the Avalanche a 3-0 lead.

Colorado thoroughly dominated New Jersey in the second period, outscoring their opponents 10-2 in the frame. An interesting statistic shows that 46% of the Avs’ shots in this game came in the second period, with Allen making nine saves.

Third period

Meier suffered the effects of another street robbery, this time on the legs of Devon Toews. An open net greeted Meier with open arms, but Toews’ powerful limbs greeted his shot and prevented the Swiss from scoring his tenth goal of the year.

Parker Kelly secured the win for the Avalanche with an unanswered goal at 16:05 to make the final score 4-0.

Takeaways

This was another great win for the Avalanche and another fantastic performance from Wedgewood in net. Jared Bednar has a difficult decision to make. Who should be the starter? “Recency bias,” says Wedgewood. He played better, but Georgiev has the bigger sample. AG certainly looked solid against Detroit, but as we know, he tends to be inconsistent.

Looking back at the Red Wings in the 2007/08 season: Both Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood parted ways this season. In the end, they won the Stanley Cup for the eleventh time in franchise history. It’s a little early to tell if Colorado has solved its goaltending problem, but things have looked great in recent games.

Colton is back on track to score, and his return has been a huge boost for a Colorado team that has suffered injuries all season. And Mittelstadt ended his losing streak with a solid team-first day. Are things starting to change for the Avalanche? We’ll have to wait and see.

Soon

The Avalanche (16-13) return Tuesday to face Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins (12-13-4) at PPG Paints Arena. Puck drop occurs at 5:00 p.m. MT.