BUFFALO, N.Y. — After a whirlwind few days, Scott Wedgewood’s plan for Wednesday was to get in a good, hard morning skate and settle in to watch his new team play the Buffalo Sabres. Wedgewood’s career has had a journeyman element, so maybe he should have known better. Regardless, the first period wasn’t 12 minutes old at KeyBank Center and it was time for his first appearance for the Colorado Avalanche. Not how he drew it up, but one he’ll remember for a long time. Wedgewood pitched a shutout for the final 48:11, and the Avs stormed back from a four-goal deficit to stun the Sabres, 5-4. “Funny enough, I went in (off the bench) for Arizona when I got traded the second time around and I got my first win against Seattle,” Wedgewood said. “We were down early, I went in and we found a way to get my first win. “Obviously, you want to stop the bleeding.” The Avalanche traded Justus Annunen and a 2025 sixth-round pick Saturday to the Nashville Predators. Nashville was in Minnesota, and Wedgewood was scheduled to start the second game of a back-to-back. Instead, he woke up and flew to Denver and joined the Avs in time to watch from the bench. He then flew to Nashville on Sunday to collect more clothes, because he’d only packed for one day to go to the Twin Cities. Then he joined the Avs in Buffalo on Monday. “I’ve been off the ice for probably four days,” Wedgewood said. “I’ve been on six flights and everywhere in between, so I hadn’t skated. “We had like an hour-and-10-minute skate this morning to try and get the adrenaline back. … I was feeling it a little bit in the third, but credit to the guys.” While the Avalanche dominated the final two periods against the Sabres, there were still plenty of key saves needed and hairy situations to navigate. Colorado was pushing like crazy to come back, which also meant riskier decisions. When Wedgewood was asked Saturday what his strengths are as a goalie, he first said that he’s earned a reputation as a “good room guy” … which is to say he’s a great teammate. But he also pointed out that he’s always going to give everything he has when he’s playing. That was on display in his first game for his new team. On multiple occasions, there was a mad scramble around the Colorado net. Wedgewood fought off one puck with shoulder, then spun and did a snow angel on the ice. He made another desperate save with his skate blade while lunging to his left. Related Articles Colorado Avalanche | Nathan MacKinnon, Scott Wedgewood key incredible Avalanche comeback in Buffalo Colorado Avalanche | Avalanche center Casey Mittelstadt looking to break out of mini-funk with “bittersweet” Buffalo return up next Colorado Avalanche | Avalanche offense can’t solve Stuart Skinner, Oilers in second straight loss Colorado Avalanche | Avalanche swaps potential for experience, hopes for more consistency from Scott Wedgewood Colorado Avalanche | Avalanche Journal: Final roster projections for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off “We gave up some breakaway chances, some odd-man rushes trying to come back in that game and he closed the door,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “He was outstanding, no question.” It was not a great night for Alexandar Georgiev, who yielded four goals on eight shots before Wedgewood replaced him. The team was very bad in front of the beleaguered goalie, but this was the third time he’s been pulled in 16 starts. Colorado’s trust in Annunen wavered, and now Wedgewood is here. He was likely to start at least one game on this road trip with back-to-back games in Detroit and New Jersey looming, but getting the nod in North Carolina on Thursday seems like a real possibility after an epic relief outing to kick off his Avalanche tenure. “We need his personality in our room,” Bednar said. “We need that veteran presence, a real upbeat guy. We need a little juice in our locker room with some of the guys that are missing, and he can help provide that.” Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.