Good & Bad: Wedgewood Shines to Cap off Perfect Avalanche Homestand

DENVER — Saying two weeks ago that the Avalanche’s season-long six-game homestand was going to be a defining moment was somehow still the biggest understatement of the year.

Following Monday’s 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Ball Arena, the Avs closed it out with a perfect 6-0-0 record. They outscored opponents 31-10 in the process and came out of it with a fully healthy lineup and five new additions for the stretch run.

Season-defining, indeed

“We played pretty good hockey, like there was that one game in there, Pittsburgh, that I didn’t love, but I like the way we responded,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “I’m liking what I’m seeing from our group. We have a little bit of everything.”

Nathan MacKinnon had two assists, the first of which was his 1,000th career NHL point. His linemates, Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas, had the goals, both of which came early in the third period.

For Lehkonen, it’s his 27th goal in 53 games. And Necas, it’s his sixth goal and 17th point in 16 games with Colorado.

MacKinnon had a whopping six goals and nine assists during the six games at home. He leads the NHL with 102 points.

“You want team success. You want everyone to celebrate accomplishments and wins and everything like that,” MacKinnon said. “This thing is just for me, but it’s a long road, ups and downs, and definitely a cool moment though.”

Through a scoreless 40 minutes, the highlights were a disallowed goal and goaltender Scott Wedgewood stealing the show. More on both of those below.

But in the third period, the Avs came out with a purpose. On the opening shift, the top line cycled the puck, got it on net, and Lehkonen tipped it past goalie Spencer Knight to make it 1-0. That wasn’t all they had.

MacKinnon set up Necas less than three minutes later to double the lead. That was all either team had until Joel Kiviranta capped off the night with an empty-net goal for his 14th of the season.

Wedgewood made 20 saves to earn his second shutout of the season. At the other end, Knight lost for the first time with Chicago, stopping 18-of-20 shots.

Good: Scott Wedgewood Has Himself a Night

The Avs’ backup goalie stole the show, and the heart of every fan in the crowd. He not only had a perfect night, but he did it in a very Marc-Andre Fleury-like way. He was a showman — an entertainer. Simply put: Wedgewood had a lot of fun with this one.

In the first period, Hawks forward Colton Dach collided with him, which took Wedgewood off his skates. The puck trickled out to Connor Bedard and in desperation, Wedgewood lifted his pad while lying on his backside to stop Bedard from shooting it into the open net. There’s no telling if it would’ve counted had the puck gone in, but it was still a beautiful save.

The following period, Wedgewood outwaited Nick Foligno and used his glove to snatch the puck away at the goal line. Wedgewood jumped up after the save with the type of swagger you’d want from your goalie.

He also helped kill off a nearly two-minute-long 5-on-3 power play for the Blackhawks in the second. Somehow, Chicago had only 12 shots through a scoreless 40 minutes, but it felt like he made at least four excellent saves.

After the Avs got a 2-0 lead in the third, Wedgewood got a few more big stops, including a rush attack by Frank Nazar and a Tyler Bertuzzi opportunity from in close.

Bad: Reviews Are Going To Burn the NHL Someday

I do want to preface this by acknowledging that the Avs were offside and that opening goal early in the first period was rightfully waived off. Even MacKinnon admitted it.

But it was close. Really close.

I wanted to go on a bit of a rant about something. I’m not sure if I feel passionate enough about this to hammer it home every time, but I did want to note it today.

At some point, the league needs to determine how far it wants to go with reviews. Every team has a video coach sitting about a hundred yards away from the bench with an earpiece in to signal the head coach to challenge a play. It’s become almost automatic now. Video coaches can slow down plays, send the replay to the screens on the floor beneath Bednar’s feet, and quickly give their team notice that the play was offside.

I feel like it’s gone too far.

Offside reviews in particular were implemented for the obvious calls. And this wasn’t it. Part of me feels like there needs to be a limit on how long the officials can look at it. Or a limit of how much you can slow down a play before determining it was offsides by mere inches.

There’s something awkward about the Avs clearing the bench to celebrate MacKinnon’s 1,000th point only to see it challenged and called back. Again, it was offsides. MacKinnon said they knew that before the call was overturned.

It just feels like someday, we’re going to run into a situation where a big moment is erased because of an offside review. Whether it’s Alex Ovechkin’s record-breaking goal, a crucial playoff overtime tally, or worse — one that can clinch the Stanley Cup. We’re headed down a road where a coach’s ability to slow down the play, call for a challenge, and allow officials unlimited time to review the play is going to lead to a massive PR nightmare.

If you thought the skate in the crease in 1999 was bad, then be prepared for history to repeat itself.

Anyway, I felt it was worth getting that off my chest. Kudos to MacKinnon for eventually reaching the milestone in the third period. I just hate to see cool moments get erased like that.