Makar feels – Cale Makar said he felt for Scott Wedgewood after the Colorado Avalanche’s Western Conference Final loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, a defeat that came while Colorado’s leaders were playing hurt and with their offense failing to find answers.
The Colorado Avalanche tried to change the feeling of Game 4, and it still wasn’t enough.
In the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights. Colorado was hit directly in the face by the barrage John Tortorella’s team threw at them. With Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon playing hurt and Valeri Nichushkin out of the lineup. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar made his move: MacKenzie Blackwood was replaced by Scott Wedgewood as the starting goalie in an attempt to give his team some life.
Blackwood, however, had been stellar in Game 4, keeping Colorado in a game they likely shouldn’t have been in. The heroics didn’t translate into goals. Over the four games of the series. the Avalanche’s offense continued to look stale. and it left both their goaltenders without the support they needed.
After the loss. Makar couldn’t shake the sense that the wrong person was being left to carry the weight of the evening. Talking to reporters after the game. he said it was “tough to digest right now. ” and that you “feel for your guys.” Then he singled out Blackwood—“Blacky”—who came in and. in his words. delivered an “incredible game” with “incredible revenge game.”.
“I feel like he earned more than what we gave him tonight,” Makar said.
The postgame message was clear: even with the switch between Blackwood and Wedgewood, the series had a common outcome—Vegas pressed, Colorado struggled to answer, and the payoff didn’t show up for the netminders who were doing everything they could.
Colorado now heads into the offseason with an aging core that can all return next year. but with not a whole lot of cap space available to improve the team. Even with the confidence that comes from having blown away the competition during the regular season. the postseason lesson landed hard: it was difficult to trust the same group not to fall short again after the offense left their goaltenders out to dry in this series. As Chris MacFarland looks to improve the team this offseason. the memory of Makar’s words—and the way Blackwood’s performance still didn’t change the result—will linger in the background of every conversation.
Cale Makar Colorado Avalanche Vegas Golden Knights Western Conference Final Blackwood Wedgewood Jared Bednar John Tortorella Nathan MacKinnon Valeri Nichushkin Chris MacFarland