Should the Avalanche pivot to Mackenzie Blackwood?

The Colorado Avalanche do not find themselves in an enviable position. After having already lost their first two games of their Western Conference Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights on home ice, they came out of the gates flying in Game 3, taking an early 3-0 lead, only to blow it and find themselves losing 5-3. Now, they’re down 3-0 in the series, on the verge of a sweep, and in a position where only four teams have ever come back from in NHL history.

So where do the Avalanche go from here? Everyone has struggled in this series, and the Avalanche’s top two players in Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are injured. But one player who has struggled is goaltender Scott Wedgewood, whose .877 save percentage and -0.92 5v5 goals saved above expected in the last three games hasn’t helped his team’s case. Given how easy it is to change things up in net compared to other positions, perhaps this is the way the Avalanche go to shake things up.

Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports joined Daily Faceoff Live to talk about the Avalanche’s struggles in the West Final and how changing the goaltender might be their best option.

Jesse Montano: I think we probably see Mackenzie Blackwood [in Game 4].

I don’t think you can look into any one guy in this series and say, “Oh yeah, he’s the reason why they’re losing”. I think there are some guys here who have really struggled and the Avs are in a situation where they really needed more out of, I look at Martin Necas, I look at Brock Nelson, I look at a guy like Devon Toews, and yes, even Scott Wedgewood. I think it just hasn’t been a great series for him. So I think we probably see Mackenzie Blackwood in Game 4.

But, and I don’t want to jump ahead here, if Nathan MacKinnon is not playing, I don’t really know if it matters who your goalie is. The Avs are very much at a nothing to lose point here.

You can watch the full episode here…