Mackenzie Blackwood did not do himself any favors with the performance he had against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. The Avalanche netminder now finds himself in a position where, yet again, he likely will not be in goal against the Dallas Stars. And that’s a concern.

Blackwood gave up six goals on 19 shots to the 32nd-ranked team in the NHL. The Canucks were riding a six-game losing streak and had just 11 goals in that stretch before this. And they needed only 35 minutes to get more than half of that against Blackwood.

It wasn’t a great game from the team in front of him, but at least three of those goals, if not more, were ones that Blackwood should save. The last one, a clean wrister from Brock Boeser from well beyond the circle, was the cherry on top of a game that probably saw his confidence slowly falter with each passing goal.

Whether it was the five-hole goals from Teddy Blueger, or the left-to-right passes that moved much quicker than he did, Blackwood’s poor play brought his save percentage down to below .900 for the first time in months.

During last week’s four-game road trip, Bednar played Blackwood three times to help rebuild his confidence. It worked. And Colorado won every game.

But after a loss to Winnipeg at home, Bednar gave Blackwood the day off on Monday.

This game was an opportunity for Blackwood to play well against the worst team in the league, and it would’ve likely meant starting him in Dallas on Saturday. Those games against the Stars matter more than any other opponent.

And it’s probably be Wedgewood again.

If Wedgewood starts and finishes that game, he’ll have been the decisive goalie in three of four meetings against the team that’s been chasing the Avs in the standings all year.

You really have to wonder how this is going to play out. The Avalanche will have an easier first-round opponent than they’ve had the previous two years, but you also still can’t give games away.

Goaltending might be the position to watch between now and the start of the postseason.

Even if Bednar wanted nothing to do with my question about goaltending being a concern for the playoffs.

10 Takeaways

1. Blackwood’s save percentage has fallen to .899. I genuinely can’t believe how quickly it’s dropped, but six goals on 19 shots will do that to you. Especially when you factor in the several other games he’s had recently with poor save percentages.

2. If it comes to this, my biggest issue with Wedgewood being handed the reins is, what happens when you need to pull him? Which could very well happen given the rigors of a playoff schedule. Are you comfortable with Blackwood entering the game cold?

We’ve seen Wedgewood time and time again come in off the bench and play well. But in the recent game against Pittsburgh, when Wedgewood was pulled, Blackwood didn’t fare much better. He doesn’t have the same experience being a relief goalie. It’s one of Wedgewood’s strongest traits.

3. Nathan MacKinnon became the first player to 50 goals in the NHL this season. That deserves to be celebrated, even if it came in this game.

4. I hated the lack of a fight from MacKinnon to regain control near the blueline on the power play. Instead, he lost an easy puck battle to Liam Ohgren and didn’t backcheck when the Canucks attacked on a 2-on-1. Those little plays can’t happen at this time of year.

5. Speaking of the top guys, Nazem Kadri was a -5.

6. Martin Necas took a scary hit that saw him go up and land on his hands. He seemed to bei n pain as he went off the ice. I know he got X-rays between the second and third, and I was surprised to see him return to play. That tells me that they felt really good about what they saw. There would otherwise be no reason to play him, even if it were a slight ailment. This is the time of the year when Bednar doesn’t leave anything to chance. Precautions are taken into account, especially when it involves one of your superstars.

7. One of my colleagues and I talked to Necas postgame and asked him about the injury. He said he was fine.

8. I understand why Bednar shuffled the defense pairings in Makar’s absence, using this as an opportunity to see what does or doesn’t work. What we saw was an example of what doesn’t work. Nick Blankenburg should play the right side. Keep Josh Manson on the left and let him, along with Devon Toews and Brett Kulak, be your staples on that side of the ice. And hope none of them get injured.

On the offensive side of things, I did like seeing Sam Malinski (goal, two assists), Brent Burns (goal, assist), and Toews (two assists) all have multiple points. The Blueline combined for eight points, compared to just seven for the forwards.

9. Something is off with the Ross Colton, Logan O’Connor, and Kadri line and I’m not quite sure what it is. I wouldn’t say it’s time to break them up, but I do think they need to figure out that third pair pretty soon. We all know Nic Roy will be on that right side. But will Colton still be on the left?

10. Bednar was not having it after the game. He hated everything about his team’s performance and made that clear. When asked what went wrong in the first two periods, he simply stated that there were too many things to list. And then he said this:

“If we’re making excuses for that performance, it’s gonna be a short [playoff] run.”