10 Takeaways: Is Blackwood Slowly Losing His Job As The Avalanche’s Starter?
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Mackenzie Blackwood did not do himself any favors with the performance he had against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. The Avalanche netminder now finds himself in a position where, yet again, he likely will not be in goal against the Dallas Stars. And that’s a concern.
Blackwood gave up six goals on 19 shots to the 32nd-ranked team in the NHL. The Canucks were riding a six-game losing streak and had just 11 goals in that stretch before this. And they needed only 35 minutes to get more than half of that against Blackwood.
It wasn’t a great game from the team in front of him, but at least three of those goals, if not more, were ones that Blackwood should save. The last one, a clean wrister from Brock Boeser from well beyond the circle, was the cherry on top of a game that probably saw his confidence slowly falter with each passing goal. Whether it was the five-hole goals from Teddy Blueger, or the left-to-right passes that moved much quicker than he did, Blackwood’s poor play brought his save percentage down to below .
900 for the first time in months. During last week’s four-game road trip, Bednar played Blackwood three times to help rebuild his confidence. It worked.
And Colorado won every game. But after a loss to Winnipeg at home, Bednar gave Blackwood the day off on Monday. This game was an opportunity for Blackwood to play well against the worst team in the league, and it would’ve likely meant starting him in Dallas on Saturday.
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