DENVER — Two weeks ago, coach Jared Bednar was singing a very different tune when it came to Mackenzie Blackwood. 

Blackwood got off to a rough start in Colorado’s 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on November 13. The first period saw two early goals slip past him: the first from former Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram, who punched in a failed cover-up attempt, and the second a mix of shaky goaltending and defensive breakdowns. Buffalo’s Owen Power lobbed the puck into the zone, allowing Jordan Greenway to outskate two defenders and beat Blackwood with a clean shot.

Bednar Put Blackwood on Notice 

After the 28-year-old goaltender told reporters that he needed more minutes to get back to being his vintage self, Bednar provided a bit of tough love in the post-game press conference. 

"I hate to sound cruel, but that's a Blacky problem at this point," he stated. "It's not a problem for me; I have lots of confidence in Blacky and I know there's lots of minutes between here and the end of the season, but (Scott Wedgewood) is playing great, so I'm not gonna not play Wedge to play Blacky at this point, so those minutes come in practice and hard work he's been doing that and he'll get his games.” 

“I'm not gonna not play him because Blacky needs minutes. There's plenty of time to give him minutes. Right now, we're gonna play a rested goalie and play the goalie that gives us a really good chance." 

Blackwood told The Hockey News the following day that he agreed with Bednar’s take on the matter, as uncomfortable as it was to address publicly, and acknowledged it was up to him to fix the problem. And in the weeks since, he clearly has. 

Blackwood Earns Bednar’s Praise 

During their recent road trip, the Avalanche offense never fully found its rhythm, yet Colorado still escaped with wins over the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks. And in Nashville, it was Blackwood who carried them, delivering a 35-save shutout to secure a 3-0 victory and effectively willing the team across the finish line. Scott Wedgewood, who filled the void for Blackwood while he recovered from offseason surgery to repair a lower body injury and who currently leads all NHL goaltenders with 13 wins, followed with a shutout of his own in a 1-0 victory over the Blackhawks. 

But if there was any question about whether Blackwood’s performance in Nashville was merely a one-off, he put that notion to rest on Wednesday night. Facing his former San Jose Sharks, Blackwood delivered another shutout in a commanding 6-0 win, erasing any remaining doubt about his form. 

We asked Bednar just how impressed he has been with Blackwood since challenging him to regain his sharpness. 

“Yeah, I’m really impressed,” he stated. “The Nashville game was lights out. Tonight, good again. And part of it is just, like I’ve talked about before, knocking the rust off. We have a lot of faith in this guy. Obviously it’s why we signed him. It’s why he’s our guy.”

The Avs are an unstoppable force. With Wednesday's win over San Jose, Colorado's winning streak is up to 10 games. They're now 9-0-2 in home games this season.

Check out Jared Bednar's full press conference following a 6-0 win over the Sharks. pic.twitter.com/ZAO16RLw0T

— DNVR Avalanche (@DNVR_Avalanche) November 27, 2025

Before Blackwood went on this impressive streak, Bednar told reporters that he expected more from his netminder. At the same time, he acknowledged Blackwood’s offseason injury, his slower-than-anticipated recovery, and the fact that he missed most of training camp and the preseason in stages. That measured critique was likely intentional, aimed at keeping Blackwood from becoming complacent. Now that he’s back to full strength, Bednar took this moment to speak about his recovery in detail. 

“But (when) you don’t play since the end of last year, you have a procedure in May, and that’s a long time off the ice. It’s a long time where you’re not getting reps and going through camp. You’re gonna expect him not to be at his best right away, but since he’s been healthy, putting in a lot of extra work with (goaltending coach) Jussi (Parkkila) and (Scott Wedgewood), it was a matter of time in our opinion before he was going to get to where he wanted to be and where we wanted him to be. 

“You kind of got to play him through that a little bit, you got to get him the practice time, so it took a little bit longer than what we would have liked, but we’re fortunate the way Wedge is playing, so now we got two guys at the top of  their game. It’s great for us and I’m really happy for both of those guys for what they’re accomplishing.”  

Civil War 

At the start of the season, it appeared the Avalanche might once again be derailed by injuries, with both Blackwood and defenseman Samuel Girard sidelined. Yet after Bednar described this team as the best he had seen since the 2022 Stanley Cup run, that assessment has aged remarkably well. While Wedgewood was outstanding for the Avalanche last season, few could have predicted that he would play at such a high level that Team Canada would place him on their Olympic long list for the upcoming Milan Games. Now, with Blackwood back to form, we could see both men vying for an Olympic spot at the same time—or, as our own Michael Traikos has suggested, Jon Cooper could simply bring both. 

The best team in the NHL also happens to have the 2 best goalies in the NHL.

If you’re the Avs, who have seen Wedgewood and Blackwood combine for 3 straight shutouts, this is a great problem. If you’re Team Canada, it poses a complicated questionhttps://t.co/r08UAt8KtE

— Michael Traikos (@Michael_Traikos) November 27, 2025

If Blackwood can shine tonight, I can’t recall another time in NHL history when two goaltenders from the same country, playing on the same team, were simultaneously vying for an Olympic roster spot.

Captain Canada: Civil War, but in the friendly competition sense. #goavsgo#avs…

— Ryan O'Hara (@OHaraSports) November 26, 2025

Thankfully for the Colorado Avalanche, there is no civil war, as catchy as that might sound. The real battle is against the rest of the NHL. This team is a true juggernaut, and with Mackenzie Blackwood back at the peak of his abilities, a squad that was already formidable has become downright intimidating.

And it wasn’t just a response to the critics—Blackwood made history in the process. He is the seventh goaltender in Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to record consecutive shutouts, joining an elite group that includes Patrick Roy, Clint Malarchuk, David Aebischer, Pavel Francouz, Darcy Kuemper, and Justus Annunen. Until Wednesday night, only Roy and Kuemper had managed to do it twice with Colorado. With his latest performance, Blackwood became the third to achieve the feat.

The rust is gone. Case closed.

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Connor Clattenburg is probably heading back to Bakersfield soon. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is close to returning, having practiced on Thursday and is expected to play Saturday in Seattle. When that happens, there simply won’t be room for the 20-year-old winger who spent the last week showing the Edmonton Oilers what they’ve been missing.

And that’s fine. That’s how it goes. But man, did Clattenburg make the most of his time.

Called up last Friday to replace Noah Philp, who was placed on LTIR, Clattenburg made his NHL debut Saturday night against Florida. Two games later, he’d scored his first NHL goal, racked up eight hits, dropped the gloves when needed, and given the Rogers Place crowd something to cheer about in an otherwise miserable 8-3 loss to Dallas.

Clattenburg scored his first career goal at 14:21 of the second period against the Stars, poking home a loose puck and celebrating like every kid dreams of doing. The Oilers were down 4-1 at the time. The game was already lost. But watching Clattenburg light up after burying that goal reminded everyone why these moments matter, regardless of the score.

A former 10th-round pick in the OHL Draft and captain with the Flint Firebirds, Clattenburg isn’t a prospect anyone expected to see in the NHL this quickly. He’d appeared in just 15 games for the Condors this season, scoring a goal and an assist while adding 59 penalty minutes—25 of which came from five fights. He’s not here to put up points. He’s here to finish checks, go to the net, and make the opposition think twice about taking liberties.

In two games, that’s exactly what he did.

Saturday in Sunrise, Clattenburg played with spice and was ready to square off with anyone willing. He finished checks. He got under people’s skin. He played with the kind of energy this team desperately needed, especially heading into a rematch with the Panthers for the first time since last year’s Cup Final.

Oilers Prospect Featured On Top Young Players ListThis Oilers prospect is being viewed as one of the top young players in hockey.

Against Dallas, he kept doing the simple things right. Finishing every check. Going to the net. Playing with enthusiasm. Even in limited ice time, Clattenburg made an impact that was hard to ignore.

The reality is that Clattenburg was never going to stick long-term. He doesn’t project as a high-scoring player—he brings mostly physical play. In a perfect world, the Oilers have enough healthy bodies that they don’t need to lean on a 20-year-old AHL enforcer to provide energy. But this hasn’t been a perfect world for Edmonton this season.

Nugent-Hopkins has been out since November 8th with an undisclosed injury, and his absence left a hole in the lineup that went beyond just skill. The Oilers needed someone to bring something different, and Clattenburg did exactly that.

Draisaitl Said Everything Everyone's Been ThinkingThe <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers#google_vignette">Edmonton Oilers</a> came home from a gruelling road trip, got a few days to rest and practice, and then lost 8-3 to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at Rogers Place.

Now Nugent-Hopkins is back, or close enough. He centered the third line at practice Thursday with Andrew Mangiapane and Clattenburg on his flanks. When he’s officially cleared to play, Clattenburg will almost certainly be on his way back to Bakersfield. The math just doesn’t work otherwise.

And that’s okay. Clattenburg got his shot. He got his first NHL game. He got his first NHL goal. He showed that he belongs in the conversation, even if it’s not quite time yet. His ascension to the NHL was quick, and there’s no reason to think he won’t be back at some point down the line.

For now, though, his value was in reminding the Oilers what physicality and enthusiasm look like. In a season where this team has spent most nights playing soft, reactive hockey, Clattenburg spent two games finishing every check and creating energy out of nothing. That’s not a small thing.

Pickard And Skinner Timing Brutal As Insider Links Oilers to Blues In Big TradeNick Kypreos has linked the Oilers to St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington in a potential blockbuster. The timing by Skinner and Pickard on Tuesday couldn't have been worse.

He did everything he could. He showed up, played hard, scored a goal, and made himself impossible to ignore. When the Oilers needed a spark, he provided one. When they needed someone to throw hits and go to the net, he did that too.

Sometimes a player’s value isn’t measured in games played or points scored. Sometimes it’s measured in what they remind a team they’re supposed to be. Clattenburg did that in two games. That’s a pretty good run.

So when Clattenburg gets sent back down—likely in the next few days—it won’t be because he failed. It’ll be because the roster got healthy and the numbers didn’t work. That’s hockey. But the Oilers are better for having had him around, even if it was brief.

Connor Clattenburg got his moment, and he made it count. 

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DENVER — On the eve of Thanksgiving, Ross Colton served up the first course himself — snapping a shot past San Jose Sharks netminder Yaroslav Askarov and giving Colorado Avalanche fans something to savor before the holiday feast. 

From that point on, Colorado did what it has done most of the season — laid down a country-style butter whipping. Nathan MacKinnon added a late first-period power-play goal to stretch the lead to 2–0, and the Avalanche blew the game wide open in the second. Colorado struck three times in a blistering 76-second span — Sam Malinski at 3:44, Josh Manson at 4:51, and then Joel Kiviranta, who buried one in his first game back from injury just nine seconds later — pushing the advantage to 5–0 and effectively ending the night for San Jose, who wound up taking a 6-0 loss. 

Colorado Stands Alone 

And the Avalanche (17-1-5) aren’t just lighting it up offensively; they’re smothering teams defensively, and the numbers make that abundantly clear. Colorado has stacked three consecutive shutouts, a feat the franchise hasn’t achieved in more than 24 years. Two of those have come from Mackenzie Blackwood, who turned aside 26 shots last night and posted a 35-save, 3-0 win over Nashville on Nov. 22. Scott Wedgewood, who opened the season as the starter while Blackwood recovered from lower-body surgery, is playing the best hockey of his career. He leads the NHL in wins (13) and was recently named to Team Canada’s Olympic long list. 

The entire team is firing on all cylinders, from goal scorers to shot blockers to goaltenders making pivotal saves. At this point last season, it was a different story. Players were finding the back of the net, but like a fighter leaving gaps in their guard, the team was absorbing too many hits and surrendering far too many chances. While no game this season has been flawless, rather than searching for every way to lose, this Avalanche squad is discovering countless ways to win, with everyone contributing to the effort. 

SAM MALINSKI TOP SHELF SNIPE #GoAvsGopic.twitter.com/WUlrsm2ScB

— PrimeMakar8 (@retro_colorado) November 27, 2025

The Hockey News spoke with Colton following Wednesday’s night win to comment on Colorado’s much-improved defensive structure. 

“I think we’re playing well. I think obviously we’re getting amazing goaltending with that tandem back there, so they give us all the confidence in the world to play our game in front of them on a nightly basis, which is awesome,” Colton said. “The whole season has has kind of what we’ve been preaching, let’s play well in the d zone, limit turnovers, because we know we got the horses in here that are going to produce some offense for us.” 

Horsepower 

The Avalanche right now are like a finely tuned race car. Every gear is operating at full capacity, and no matter the course, they’re ready for the challenge. In hockey terms, that translates to depth. Consider this: Colorado has scored 94 goals this season, and their top three scorers — Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Cale Makar — have combined for 40 of those goals, roughly 42 percent of the total. That’s a healthy balance. If a team’s premier players are producing more than half of its goals, concerns about being top-heavy start to emerge. While the Avalanche certainly boast a trio of generational talents, they are not carrying the team alone; their contributions are significant but proportionate, thanks to the remarkable depth across the roster. 

17 ottelun tauon jälkeen heti maalin makuun! 🚨

Joel Kiviranta is back. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/2QONuAfdj2

— NHL Suomi (@NHL_fi) November 27, 2025

Players like Ross Colton are a key part of that depth. The 29-year-old has tallied three goals in his last five games, including strikes in consecutive contests. He is riding a hot streak alongside the rest of the team, which has won 10 straight, yet Colton continues to approach each game with a business-as-usual mindset. 

An absolute rocket from Josh Manson. pic.twitter.com/bW6tUYM0wk

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 19, 2025

“We do a great job managing the bodies, managing the time on and off the ice. We’ll do some video, study what we can change, and then turn the page here. We got a big back-to-back coming up here.” 

Another Back-to-Back 

The Avalanche will face the Minnesota Wild (13-7-4) on Friday at Grand Casino Arena at 1:30 p.m. local time, before quickly flying back to Denver to take on the Montreal Canadiens (12-7-3) on Saturday with a 1 p.m. start. 

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Aaron Ekblad blocked a shot late against the Philadelphia Flyers, but the news this morning is positive.

The Florida Panthers were defeated 4-2 by the Flyers despite once owning a two-goal lead. The Panthers came out firing, throwing 15 shots on goal in the first period and concluding the opening frame up 1-0. Carter Verhaeghe added the second, but four unanswered goals by the Flyers flipped the script.

Late in the third period, while trying to keep the Flyers' lead at a minimum, Ekblad blocked a shot that stung him. He finished the game with one shot on goal, two hits and three blocks in 21:43 of ice time.

There was some concern this morning, but coach Paul Maurice spoke to the media and provided a positive update, stating that he is fine and that he will play on Friday against the Calgary Flames. 

Ekblad has had a quiet season offensively, but he continues to be a vital part of their defensive system. With just one goal and seven points in 22 games, the 29-year-old is on pace for just four goals and 26 points.

Despite that, Ekblad averages the second-most ice time on the team and plays a critical role on the Panthers' shutdown unit with Gustav Forsling. 

The news is a sigh of relief for the Panthers.

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Buffalo Sabres players being on various NHL trade rumor boards has been an all-too-frequent sight and with it being American Thanksgiving and the Sabres at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the chatter will begin in earnest now that unofficial trade season has opened. A couple interesting nuggets from Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos in his first trade board that involved the Sabres. 

The first involved winger Alex Tuch. Kypreos echoed Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, who indicated on a recent 32 Thoughts podcast that the Sabres winger has to be looking for a deal in the same neighborhood as Los Angeles Kings winger Adrian Kempe, which would necessitate the Sabres coming off their negotiating stance prior to the season that they balked at a deal with an AAV of more than $10 million per season. Kypreos indicates there is still a large gap between the two sides, which could make the 29-year-old the most sought-after commodity before the March 6 trade deadline.

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 The other involved Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo. The Leafs acquired the big right-shot defenseman from Boston in March for the playoff stretch drive, but Kypreos reported that Toronto explored trading Carlo to Buffalo for restricted free agent winger JJ Peterka before he was dealt to Utah for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan, and then moved on to defenseman Bowen Byram, before he signed a two-year bridge deal.

While dealing for Carlo is consistent with the Sabres looking for players with term remaining, and the pursuit of a righty to play with Owen Power this season, either trade would have been quite a departure for Buffalo, who have not made a significant trade with their Atlantic Division rival for 32 years (Dave Andreychuk, Darren Puppa, and a first round pick for Grant Fuhr). 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram  @MikeInBuffalo

There will be no games in the NHL today, as the league is on the American Thanksgiving break. Most of the time, when a team is in a playoff position at this stage, they end up making the spring dance, but this year seems a bit different.

With 27 points, the Montreal Canadiens are currently just outside of the playoff picture, looking in as they are in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. However, not only do they have games in hand on all the teams ahead of them, aside from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they are also just four points behind the top spot in the east, held by the New Jersey Devils with 31 points, and three points behind the Atlantic Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.

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Rarely have the standings been so tight in the Conference, and it’s much tighter than in the West, where the league-leading Colorado Avalanche have 39 points, followed by the Dallas Stars with 34 points and the Minnesota Wild with 30 points. The West houses the three teams with the lowest point totals: the St. Louis Blues (21 points), the Calgary Flames (19 points), and the Nashville Predators (18 points).

In other words, anything can still happen in the standings, and if the Canadiens can keep their current winning streak going (it will be a challenge with the Vegas Golden Knights and the Avalanche coming up on their schedule), they’ll be right back in the thick of it.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Canadiens haven’t been spared by injuries so far, with Patrik Laine, Kaiden Guhle, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach all being sidelined for a significant time. GM Kent Hughes has already brought some help in by signing free agent Alexandre Tessier, but he’s still working the phones, according to the rumours swirling around the league. There’s no denying that if he were to be able to bring some much-needed help down the middle, the Canadiens would be in a much better spot.

Putting the goaltending woes in the rearview mirror would also go a long way towards helping Martin St-Louis’ side punch its ticket for the playoffs. Jakub Dobes has been solid in his last two starts, and Samuel Montembeault is bound to bounce back; otherwise, he may end up riding the pine for the foreseeable future since the coach now seems determined to ride the hot hand.

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The Buffalo Sabres playoff fortunes may rest on the next two weeks and how they fare on the road, as the club began a stretch of eight of their next 10 on the road with a 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. With the exception of a 31 -second stretch after Jason Zucker’s goal in the third period, the Penguins throughout, ending the Sabres two-game winning streak. 

"Our puck play cost us dearly, cost us on the first goal, our puck play right after we got back in the game and tied it up," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. "We didn't handle the puck well, gave it away, didn't execute the breakout and then ended up in the back of their net."

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The Sabres have only one victory (a 5-4 overtime win over Detroit on November 15 in which they trailed 4-1 in the third period) and two overtime losses to Toronto and Boston in nine road games this season. After their Black Friday afternoon home game against New Jersey, the Sabres play seven of their next eight games on the road against Minnesota, Philadelphia, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Seattle and 10 of their 14 December games away from KeyBank Center.  

One reason for optimism may be that Buffalo is getting most of their injured players back. Jason Zucker and Zach Benson returned in the last week, and center Josh Norris may return to action this weekend, lowering the number of players on IR to just three (Michael Kesselring, Jiri Kulich, and Justin Danforth).  Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed three goals on just 18 shots, so it is likely we will see either Alex Lyon or Colten Ellis get the start against the Devils.  

Follow Michael on X, Instagram  @MikeInBuffalo