Good & Bad: Wedgewood the Savior? Georgiev Stumbles but Avalanche Complete Comeback in Buffalo

The early returns on Scott Wedgewood are just what the doctor ordered.

If the doctor was attempting to fix whatever happens when Alexandar Georgiev allows an early goal and the rest of the team falters, that is.

The Avalanche’s new backup goalie wasn’t supposed to play tonight. But after eight shots and four goals against Georgiev in just 11:48, he was called upon to make his debut in relief. I’m not sure anyone, even he, could envision what would happen the rest of the way.

Colorado overcame a four-goal deficit to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 on Tuesday. Wedgewood was a perfect 22-for-22 and seemingly injected life into the Avs. They only scored once in the second period but exploded for four in the third to put the game away before overtime.

Nathan MacKinnon scored twice to put an end to his 10-game goalless drought. He also added an assist on Artturi Lehkonen’s late game-winner. Joel Kiviranta and Logan O’Connor also scored. Calvin de Haan had his first multi-point game of the season, pitching in with two assists in the third period. He also had seven shots on goal, which was second most on the team behind MacKinnon.

Colorado outshot Buffalo 43-30 in a game that was mostly played at five-on-five. In the second and third periods, the Avs had a 34-18 shot advantage.

The scoring started early for the Sabres as center Tage Thompson scored his 12th and quickly added his 13th of the season at the 6:39 mark. Just eleven seconds after later, J.J. Peterka beat Georgiev to make it 3-0. Head coach Jared Bednar held off on making a goalie change. But the fourth goal from Beck Malenstyn was the dagger. The change was made.

Enter, Wedgewood.

MacKinnon began the comeback at 2:24 of the second, making it 4-1 as the Avs started to come on. It was the only shot they got past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the middle frame but still continued to control play.

In the third, Kiviranta, O’Connor, and MacKinnon scored before the period was eight minutes in. Lehkonen’s tally was at 15:38.

Good: Scott Wedgewood, the savior?

Not to to get carried away, but there was something about the way the team played in front of Wedgewood that seemed to inject confidence in the Avs. Maybe it was the breakaway save he made early. Or perhaps the fact that he quickly stopped the bleeding. When Justus Annunen was pulled after three goals in Tampa Bay last week, Georgiev replaced him and let in two more before the buzzer sounded to end the first period. There was zero shot that the Avs were going to mount any type of comeback on that night. Even the goalie in relief was an issue.

But this was different. Wedgewood came in and made four saves to keep the score 4-0 at the break. It’s not that four goals is manageable and five isn’t. It’s the confidence the team had in Wedgewood after seeing him make a few strong saves early and calm things down between the pipes. That’s the big word here: Confidence. When a team has it, anything is possible. Especially when you have MacKinnon leading the charge. What a spectacular way for the game to end for Colorado.

All thanks to Wedgewood.

Bad: Georgiev stumbles again

I want Georgiev to do good. I really, truly do. But every time he digs himself out of a rut to silence the critics to take a step forward, another game like this pulls him three steps back. Georgiev oozes confidence. He’s the most honest person you can ever talk to in a media setting. He believes in himself. But I’m not sure his teammates have confidence in him anymore. I struggle with the idea that the coach believes in him. It’s gotten that bad.

I wrote over the weekend that the Wedgewood addition likely spells the end of Georgiev’s days with the Avs. Not that Wedgewood is going to become the full-time starter (albeit he’ll likely take over during this road trip). But acquiring Wedgewood means Colorado doesn’t have a backup option to start in the playoffs. Wedgewood is 32 years old and has zero Stanley Cup playoff starts in his career.

If your contingency plan for a struggling Georgiev is a goalie without playoff experience, then can you really trust to role with Georgiev for a third straight postseason?