Goaltender Scott Wedgewood stopped 28 of 29 shots in his first career Stanley Cup Playoff start, backstopping the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their first-round series on Friday night. The game was played at Ball Arena in Denver.
Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring for the Avalanche in the first period, assisted by Cale Makar and Jonathan Drouin. Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen added goals in the second period to extend Colorado's lead. The Kings' lone goal came from Pierre-Luc Dubois in the third period, before Devon Toews scored an empty-net goal to seal the win for the Avalanche.
Wedgewood, who took over as the starter after an injury to Alexandar Georgiev, was a key factor in the victory. Kings goaltender Cam Talbot made 30 saves in the loss. The Avalanche now lead the best-of-seven series 1-0, with Game 2 scheduled for Sunday in Denver.
