DENVER (AP) — Jared Bednar received some clarity from the league on why a whistle wasn't blown to stop a play with his goaltender Scott Wedgewood hurt and down on the ice.
It doesn't mean the Colorado Avalanche coach fully agrees with what he heard.
“We had a good discussion on it today, on my thoughts. I think they understood my thoughts. I understand theirs,” Bednar said Friday after practice. "I don’t want to say agree to disagree — there’s some differences of opinion, but I do understand their side of it. I think they understand mine.”
Wedgewood was hurt in the third period Thursday night after a Buffalo Sabres player fell on his right leg following a collision in front of the net. Bednar's gripe was that the play should've been stopped once the puck went into the corner and with Wedgewood still down. The whistle didn't sound and the Sabres ended up scoring a goal in a game the Avalanche rallied to win 6-5 in overtime.
“When the goalie's hurt, you blow the whistle,” an upset Bednar said Thursday night after the game. “By the time that puck got cycled behind the net, it should have been called. You’re doing it for every other player on the ice, but you’re not going to do it for the goalie? Makes no sense to me.”
Bednar said Friday the team was still waiting on tests that may determine how long Wedgewood might be sidelined. Bednar estimated his goalie will be week to week. The team is hoping it's not a high ankle sprain, which would keep Wedgewood out about six weeks.
“He’s going to miss some time,” Bednar said. “We’re just hoping for the best side of that timeline.”
On the play that drew Bednar's wrath, Sabres forward Zach Benson crashed into Avalanche center Parker Kelly and fell into Wedgewood’s right leg. Benson got back up, gained possession of the puck and later scored with Wedgewood still down and inside the goal.
It fired up the Avalanche, who tied the game with 8 seconds remaining and won it 48 seconds into overtime on Devon Toews' breakaway goal.
“I thought our guys got mad and got super-determined after that happened,” Bednar said.
Wedgewood's injury is the latest in a string of ailments for the Avalanche. They're also missing Valeri Nichushkin (lower body), Miles Wood (upper body), Ivan Ivan (upper body), Oliver Kylington (upper body) and captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee).
Behind the play of Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen and Toews, the Avalanche have reeled off six straight wins heading into a game Saturday against Montreal.
“We’ve got a lot of really good players. That's why we’ve been a really good team for a long time,” Bednar said. “I have faith that we will get healthy at some point, and then I'd like to see what our team looks like.”
With Wedgewood out, the Avalanche plan to lean heavily on Mackenzie Blackwood, who was acquired by the Avalanche in a deal last month with San Jose that sent Alexandar Georgiev to the Sharks. Blackwood has gone 6-1 with a 1.93 goals-against average since the trade. He's confident he can handle the increased workload.
“You've got to be ready to go in situations like that,” said Blackwood, who signed a five-year contract extension on Dec. 27. “Obviously, back-to-backs are tougher, but you do what you can.”
Colorado plans to call up Trent Miner from the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League to serve as a backup.
“We'll just see how long Wedgie’s going to be out,” Bednar said of Wedgewood, who was acquired in a trade with Nashville on Nov. 30. “We’ve kept both guys (Blackwood and Wedgewood) going, because both guys were playing great. Now we’ll have to lean on one guy.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Pat Graham, The Associated Press