Avalanche expect Scott Wedgewood to ‘miss time’

Scott Wedgewood walked around the Colorado Avalanche facility Friday in flip-flops, a pretty encouraging sign for a goaltender who left Ball Arena the night before wearing a walking boot.

Avs coach Jared Bednar said there’s still no timetable for Wedgewood’s return, but the club expects him to be out for at least the next handful of games. matches.

“They’re hoping it’s not a high ankle sprain, which would automatically result in a six-week period or somewhere in that range,” Bednar said. “If it’s a little lower, or if it’s his foot, we’ll see what the image shows today, but it could take 2-3 weeks. We don’t know, but it won’t be a game or two. He’s going to miss time.

Wedgewood left the Avs’ wild 6-5 victory Thursday night after falling awkwardly into Buffalo’s Zach Benson in his bullpen. Benson stood up and scored a controversial goal while Wedgewood writhed in pain on the ice and clutched his lower right leg.

He was unable to put any weight on it when he left the ice, but he looked in much better condition watching Friday’s practice. Still, the Avs recalled Trent Miner from practice, and he will likely get his first NHL start next week when Colorado plays back-to-back road games at Chicago and Minnesota.

“Trent Miner will play back-to-back and we’ll go from there,” Bednar said. “(Mackenzie) Blackwood, there’s no reason to me that he can’t carry the load and play a lot. We’ll just see how long (Wedgewood) is going to be out, but we’re going to have to lean on Blackwood a little bit here.

Miner made his NHL debut on November 15 against Washington. He stopped 12 of 13 shots in relief of Justus Annunen.

Blackwood and Wedgewood have been exceptional since arriving in two trades 10 days apart. Wedgewood is 4-2 with a .917 save percentage in seven appearances, while Blackwood is 6-1 with a .932 save percentage in seven games.

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Originally published: January 3, 2025 at 4:21 p.m. MST