Better goaltending and familiarity have fueled the Avalanche’s hot start

Through five games, the Colorado Avalanche look like they just might be the class of the Western Conference.

No team in the group has a better record than their mark of 4-0-1, and three of their four wins have come by multiple goals. The usual suspects are thriving on offense, but with goalie MacKenzie Blackwood sidelined, backup Scott Wedgewoood has been phenomenal.

The 33-year-old journeyman has started and finished all five of Colorado’s games, and he owns a .939 save percentage and 1.58 goals against average. In each of his four wins, he’s allowed exactly one goal, making it easy for a star-studded Avalanche team to produce enough offense to pick up two points.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports to discuss Wedgewood’s brilliance and the other factors that are driving a stellar start for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s start with this start to the season. Last year it was 0-4, they couldn’t get a save. This year they’re 4-0-1. I’ll start with: Is it as simple as goaltending, or is there more to this Avalanche hot start?

Jesse Montano: I think it’s a couple things that’s a difference here. One, it is goaltending. Even with MacKenzie Blackwood on a conditioning stint… Scott Wedgewood has been outstanding for the Avs to start this season, and just the difference you see in the locker room, the confidence that the guys have. No one ever explicitly said last year, “We don’t have confidence in these goaltenders.” They didn’t need to. You could see it in their body language. You could see it in the way they were playing… Two, this is a really similar group that the Avs had at the end of last season… There’s not really that same kind of feeling out process. The Avs used 50 players last year… it was just all over the place.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…