Wedgewood sharp in net, O'Connor
scores 1st goal in a year as Avs beat Kings 2-1 in Game 1
[April 20, 2026]
By PAT GRAHAM
DENVER (AP) — Logan O’Connor scored for the first time in a year,
Scott Wedgewood stopped 24 shots in his first Stanley Cup playoffs
start and the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles
Kings 2-1 in Game 1 on Sunday.
O'Connor's third-period tally was his first since Game 4 of a
playoff series against Dallas on April 26. He missed most of this
season with a hip injury. Artturi Lehkonen had a second-period goal
for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche.
“Super happy to get it out of the way,” said O'Connor, who underwent
hip surgery in early June. "For us, our game translates well to the
playoffs. It’s a lot of simplicity and muck it up and just wear
teams down. It was nice to get that one out of the way and finish
the job off.”
Wedgewood got the nod in net over Mackenzie Blackwood after leading
the league in goals-against average and save percentage. Wedgewood
made four career playoff appearances in relief before Sunday's
start.
At 33 years, 248 days old, Wedgewood became the third-oldest
goaltender in league history to pick up a win in his first career
playoff start, according to NHL stats.
“Obviously, a long career to get to this point,” Wedgwood cracked.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Denver.
Artemi Panarin scored a power-play goal with 2:22 left to make it
2-1. Shortly after, forward Joel Armia was called for high-sticking
and the Kings were unable to tie it up.
“We were kind of coming there late and couldn’t get enough,” forward
Scott Laughton said.
Anton Forsberg stopped 28 shots in his NHL postseason debut.
“We’re comfortable in low-scoring games,” Kings defenseman Mikey
Anderson said. “We've got to try and keep it tight.”
[to top of second column] |
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood blocks a shot against
the Los Angeles Kings during the first period of Game 1 in the first
round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs, Sunday, April 19,
2026, in Denver. (AP Photo Jack Dempsey)
Nathan MacKinnon had an assist on Lehkonen's goal
to give him 32 career points in Game 1s. He trails only Joe Sakic
(42) for the most Game-1 points in franchise history.
The game got chippy in the third period, with Cale
Makar taking a shove to the back by Adrian Kempe. Captain Gabriel
Landeskog later stood up for Makar and got into it with Kempe. Both
drew roughing calls.
There were a combined 84 hits.
“We know teams are going to want to push us out of games,” said
O'Connor, whose team was 0 for 4 on the power play. “We feel as
though we can push back just as hard. That’s one great thing about
our group: the versatility within our locker room. You want to go a
1-0 game? We like to think we can beat you at that. Track meet, if
it happens? We’ve got that. Physicality, we have guys who are
willing to step up.”
Colorado nearly scored earlier in the second when O'Connor sent a
shot past Forsberg. But as the goal horn sounded, the officials
signaled no goal. It was ruled Jack Drury made contact with Forsberg
following a collision with Drew Doughty. The Avalanche challenged
but the call stood.
“I’d like to see it count,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “They
saw it different — not losing any sleep over it.”
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