Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
The Buffalo Sabres were en route to a statement win over the Colorado Avalanche when it all went wrong.
During Tuesday night’s contest in Buffalo, the Sabres scored four goals in the first 12 minutes of the game to take a commanding 4-0 lead over the Avalanche. After four goals on eight shots, Colorado pulled starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev for new acquisition Scott Wedgewood.
The Sabres kept their lead into the first intermission and only conceded a goal to Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon in the second period. But Wedgewood stood tall in net, and in the third period, the avalanche of goals began.
The Avs and Scott Wedgewood shut the door on the Buffalo Sabres with an INSANE 5-4 comeback win.
Wedgewood’s first look with the Avalanche was nothing short of impressive. This was easily his best save of the night.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/tyVHY4oUWR
— Bailey Curtis (@baileyycurtis) December 4, 2024
Joel Kiviranta, Logan O’Connor and MacKinnon scored in a span of just over six minutes in the third period to tie the game with under 13 minutes to go in the game. And with less than five minutes remaining, Artturi Lehkonen beat Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to complete the comeback and escape Buffalo with the win.
Needless to say, the reactions on social media weren’t too kind to the Sabres.
“An all-time Sabres loss,” said @the_dadchef on X (Twitter).
“Questions need to be answered at this point,” said @ItsJustKess.
“It’s hard to find new ways to disappoint this fan base,” said user Zak Boychuk. “Congratulations it’s been done.”
The reaction from Avalanche fans was the opposite.
“I never stopped believing,” said user Zach Grimes, who attached a post from early in the game saying they’ll come back and win.
Wedgewood, who joined the Avalanche in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Saturday, stopped all 22 shots he faced in relief as his new teammates fought back.
“Get in there, just try to stop the bleeding, and it ended up being a good night for me to do it,” the 32-year-old told Altitude Sports after the game.
Wedgewood has been a backup netminder during his parts of seven NHL seasons. In 2021-22, he played for the New Jersey Devils, Arizona Coyotes and Dallas Stars after a waiver claim and a trade in the same season.
Last season, he appeared in 32 games for the Stars and had a 16-7-5 record with a 2.85 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. He signed a two-year contract worth $1.5 million annually with the Predators on July 1 and had a 3.69 GAA and .878 SP in five games before the trade.
Props to Wedgewood on his first game in support. This game reminded me of a game against the Panthers in the 90s. Amazing how everything just started going in with a snap of the finger. Can’t keep doing these bad starts though.
— CityAvsGuy (@achsdu17) December 4, 2024
The Avalanche move to 14-12-0 and are back in the playoff race, while the 11-12-2 Sabres remain three points out of a wild-card spot.
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