The Colorado Avalanche won their 13th consecutive home game on Tuesday night, improving to 27-2-7 on the 2025-26 season — and Scott Wedgewood was the catalyst.
The 33-year-old made 32 saves in a 1-0 shutout victory over the Utah Mammoth at Ball Arena, in both teams’ final game before the three-day holiday break that begins on Christmas Eve.
Wedgewood has helped form the best tandem in the National Hockey League alongside Mackenzie Blackwood, and both goaltenders have a realistic chance to be selected for Team Canada’s Olympic squad come February.
“I also played my way into my own confidence, right?” Wedgewood said afterwards, per Colorado Hockey Now’s Aarif Deen. “You play well, you build confidence. You get back in the net, you build confidence.”
The veteran netminder continued: “There’s nights when you kind of trick your mind that you’re feeling good, and tonight was one of the nights where I didn’t have to do any of that. My mind was in it from the get-go. Got off to a pretty hot start, and they’re a team that makes you think. They’ve got turnaways and guys fading and finding different spots, and they move the puck quick.
“So it’s not a game where you can really turn your mind off or be half a second behind, and I felt that the IQ tonight was firing on all cylinders.”
Scott Wedgewood turning back clock with Avalanche
Wedgewood has been just terrific in 2025-26, winning 16 games while sporting a sparkling 2.01 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. He was the bonafide starter while Blackwood rehabbed from an injury, and even with both goaltenders healthy, he’s getting more starts than the average backup.
“He was the best player on the ice for either team,” said head coach Jared Bednar, per NHL.com’s Ryan Boulding. “There’s no question.”
It was Wedgewood’s second shutout of the season, and 10th of his NHL career, which began with the New Jersey Devils over a decade ago.
He’s a big reason why the Avs are allowing a miniscule 2.11 goals against per game on the campaign, which is tops in the league. It’s been a storybook start in Denver for a team that has already banked 61 points ahead of the Christmas break.
That’s the most accrued before the holiday break in NHL history, and they have a very real chance to eclipse the 2022-23 Boston Bruins, who won a league record 65 times in 82 tries.
“It’s a testament to the guys and the hard work that they’ve put in and the focus that they’ve been able to maintain [through] the first half of the season,” Bednar said, per Boulding. “It’s hard to play that many games where you don’t have off nights or nights that hurt you badly, and I’m really proud of the guys, because they’re finding a way to be in every game, even if they don’t have their best stuff.”
Wedgewood and the Avalanche will now get some well-deserved R&R before returning to action against the Golden Knights in Las Vegas on Saturday night.