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When most NHL goaltenders are on top of their games, it can look pretty formulaic.
There are some nights where it looks like Scott Wedgewood is trying something completely outside the box. Whatever he tries these days, it’s working for him. The Colorado Avalanche can’t stop winning, and Wedgewood is quickly becoming one of the best stories in the first quarter of the 2025-26 NHL season.
“There’s not a lot in my game that they teach anymore,” Wedgewood said. “Just find a way to stop the puck. I’m going to give it everything I have. Sometimes it’s not the most perfect goaltending position or unorthodox, but as long as it stays out of the net.”
Wedgewood made 28 saves Sunday night to help the Avs defeat the previously-hot New York Islanders at Ball Arena. He leads the NHL with 11 wins — three more than anyone else.
He has also allowed one goal in eight of his 15 starts. The 33-year-old is fourth in save percentage (.917) among goalies with seven-plus games and second in goals against average (2.17).
The Hall of Fame goaltender behind the Islanders bench was certainly impressed Sunday night.
“I thought we played really well, and their goaltender was the story of the game,” said Islanders coach Patrick Roy, who was honored during a TV timeout as part of the franchise’s celebration of its 30th anniversary in Denver. “He made some really good saves, especially on our power play. We had a lot of good looks, and he made those saves. … I thought it was probably our best game of the road trip.”
Wedgewood’s journey to this point has been a winding one. He spent years believing in his ability, waiting for chances like this.
There have been a couple of good runs — one with the Arizona Coyotes and one with the Dallas Stars — but this is different. Wedgewood has played 15 of his team’s 19 games. That is a real starter’s workload.
And it’s some of the best hockey he’s played in his career.
“I feel like it’s like the corporate world — you want everyone to have experience, but you don’t get experience until you have experience, right?” Wedgewood said. “Maybe I wasn’t ready at the time or didn’t get the opportunity, but I’m proud of where I’ve been and the experience I’ve gotten along the way.
“It’s tough when you get 15-20 day breaks and you’ve got to be out there and be perfect. That’s part of what I did in that backup role. Obviously, getting a chance to start … you dream of it. You want it. It’s been fun behind this team to do it. We’ve got a good 1-2 punch here. The more you get in the net, the more comfortable I get.”
The first part of this run was out of necessity. Mackenzie Blackwood had surgery after last season to correct something that had been bothering him. The Avs did not want him to rush back.
Wedgewood’s hot start helped with that. Now, Blackwood is back and ready to get more playing time … but Wedgewood’s play has created a problem coach Jared Bednar doesn’t mind having. He has said he’s not going to just give Blackwood extra games to get back into a starter’s rhythm when Wedgewood is playing so well.
“Easy guy to cheer for. Great teammate, hard worker,” Bednar said. “I don’t know when was the last time he’s gotten this type of opportunity, but he’s getting it now and he’s making the most of it. He’s been outstanding.”
Sunday was another night where Wedgewood earned it.
The Avs had a slow start to the game, one flurry of controlling play in the second period and then had to hang on for large parts of the third.
Colorado has been the better team in most of its games this year en route to a 13-1-5 start. This wasn’t one of them.
Ilya Sorokin has finished in the top eight of the Vezina Trophy voting each of the past four seasons. He’s one of the best goalies in the world. He had a very solid night.
The guy at the other end was better.
Wedgewood noted his work with Avs goalie coach Jussi Parkkila, particularly in helping him “stop swimming” at times in his crease. He is an aggressive goalie by nature, but sometimes that leads to him getting himself out of position for second and third opportunities.
Sometimes, the unorthodox stuff is inevitable, though. At one point during the second period, Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri had a great chance to Wedgewood’s right. He slid over and then lunged upwards to take away Palmieri’s shot heading to the near corner of the net.
Doing so left him down and with one leg inside the goal, and he had to show off some gymnastics talent to get himself back into position. It turned into another highlight, and another example of how Wedgewood is finding a way, any way, to keep this Avs early-season run rolling.
“They made a good pump fake in the middle, it went down to the goal line and he had my ear hole,” Wedgewood said. “I had to jump to get contact. The only way out of that when you’re inside your net is just to get your feet back under you. I had to barrel roll to get back up.
“Credit to the guys, they didn’t get another shot when I was upside down. That would have looked pretty bad.”
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