The arch of Mackenzie Blackwood’s eyebrow was as sharp and sure as the razor in his hand.

“If you’re playing well or aren’t playing well, it’s about what’s good for the team,” the Avalanche goaltender told me before Colorado took on Edmonton at Ball Arena late Tuesday night. “I think the whole team knows what we’re trying to do, what our goal is, so (it’s about) whatever it takes to get there.”

“Would you be insulted,” I asked, “if you weren’t the Game 1 starter a month from now?”

A pause.

“Insulted?” the goalie said.

“Yeah,” I replied.

Blackwood, who was sitting at his locker stall, leaned forward and tossed a baseball-sized wad of tape he’d just sliced off his right ankle.

“Depends how I’m playing,” the goalie continued. “If I know I’m not playing my best and (Scott Wedgewood) is playing lights out, then you understand. But if I’m obviously playing my best hockey, then I feel like if I’m at my best, I can be as good or better than anybody on any given day. It just depends on the circumstance.”

“You think you’re playing your best hockey now?” I wondered.

“No,” Blackwood countered. “I mean, I have another level to get to.”

And he can. The Avs would be smart to use the rest of this month to try to find it. Both for him and for them.

If the Stanley Cup Playoffs began Saturday, I’m starting Scott Wedgewood in goal. Forget metrics. Forget stats, although Scott’s got those in his corner, too.

Trust your eyeballs. Wedgewood’s got the hot hand. You ride it. Simple as that.

But as the playoffs are five weeks away yet, Blackwood, who went into Tuesday night’s start against the Oilers with a 2.36 Goals Against Average and a 91.1% save percentage, still has time to make his case.

The only question is how much.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar pulled Blackwood last Friday in Dallas after the net-minder gave up four goals on 11 shots over the first 22 minutes of action. Wedgewood finished the game by stopping all 10 shots he faced in regulation, then blanked the hosts in the shootout to help Colorado snatch a 5-4 victory. Wedgewood hung in at home this past Sunday against Minnesota as the Avs pulled out another big divisional win, taking down the Wild 3-2 via shootout.

In two playoff-type games against the likely No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the West, No. 41 strung together two solid, playoff-type performances between the pipes. Which led a reporter to ask Bednar on Tuesday after the morning skate: Given Wedgewood’s efforts against the Stars and Wild, is there more pressure on Blackwood now to step it up?

“I hope so, yeah,” the coach replied. “I mean, I think … none (of that is) put on him by me, but I think that’s kind of the mindset of our whole team. If you have a bad outing, you’ve got to respond and help our team win the next night as best you can.

“Players are going to go through ups and downs. I thought Mackenzie came out of the Olympic break and was fantastic for us, gave us a good chance to win every night. He played three or four games, and he plays Dallas, he wasn’t that good. (And) Wedge got us a big win in Anaheim, (at) Dallas, at home against Minnesota, and it’s Blackie’s turn to step in and go try and get us a win.

“So I think that pressure is just kind of internal in our locker room …  kind of following the expectations of our group.”

Blackwood’s highs are higher. His ceiling is higher. It’s the lows, especially in big moments against division rivals, that can drive you up a wall.

But you’re not bringing Lord Stanley home without Blackie pulling the sled at some point, in all likelihood. Which means it behooves Bednar to try to keep trotting Blackwood out there during this schedule crunch as much as possible, unless he starts hurting your seeding.

Because, for as good as he’s been, Wedgewood could use the rest. In a perfect world, he probably needs to be on a “pitch count” until the playoffs get underway.

The best 1B netminder in hockey is having a career year (24-4-5, 2.19) and playing like a 1A. Yet Wedgewood’s already set a new career high in starts (34, the old mark was 32) and is two appearances away from tying his season high in appearances (37; he’s at 35 now) with more than a month of the regular season still to play. Scott averaged 28 games the previous four seasons.

“You think about the schedule, right? Every other day, you’re traveling,” Wedgewood told me before the Olympic break. “(If) you have a tough situation going on, and you’ve got a (goalie) that’s rested, that could be a big game just to get a guy reset. I remember with (Dallas goalie Jake) Oettinger last year, they pulled him and got him reset, and (then he’s) going next game.

“When we cross the bridge, we’ll get there. I think the team’s confident in both of us. It’ll be a fun time of the year. And I think we’ll be firing on all cylinders.”

Wedge is 33. Like Blackwood, he’s been fighting through an assortment of aches and pains over the last 10-12 weeks himself. He also remains something of a postseason wild card, a comparative unknown on the sport’s biggest stage. Over his career, Wedgwood has appeared in just four playoff games — three with Dallas in 2023 — but has yet to make a Stanley Cup start. Blackwood’s got seven under his belt, all with Colorado a year ago.

“You want to make it hard for Jared to make that call?” I asked Mackenzie.

Another pause.

Another eyebrow.

“Well, yeah,” Blackwood replied. “I mean, I don’t want to make it easy by going and (stinking).

“Obviously, you want to play your best. A coach’s job is to make those decisions. And a player’s job is to go do your best on the ice, make them have tough choices. So, yeah. It’s pretty simple.”