Cale Makar said the quiet part out loud after Game 4
Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Before anyone could turn this into a goaltending story, Cale Makar made sure it wasn't.
The Colorado Avalanche got swept out of the Western Conference Final on Tuesday night, and their best player walked out of the locker room defending a goalie that most of the league spent the winter doubting.
He didn't have to do it. He did it anyway.
The facts here are blunt. Mackenzie Blackwood came into Game 4 against the Vegas Golden Knights carrying a 0-4-1 career record against that team - .877 save percentage, 3.63 goals-against average.
Statistically, he was the wrong pick for an elimination game. Bednar pulled Scott Wedgewood - his workhorse all season at .921 - because Wedgewood had been carved up at .877 by Vegas in this series specifically.
With nothing left to protect, Bednar rolled the dice on Blackwood.
Blackwood gave them 24 saves and a genuine fighting chance to survive.
The goalie everyone doubted gave them everything
Makar didn't sugarcoat what he saw after the final buzzer.
This post tells the story better than any box score:
"It's tough to digest right now. You feel for your guys. You feel for Blacky, who came in, had an incredible game, incredible revenge game."
"I feel like he earned more than what we gave him tonight."
- Cale Makar
"I feel like he earned more than what we gave him tonight."
- Cale Makar
"Revenge game" matters here. Blackwood's last appearance before Tuesday was a three-goal first period against Minnesota in Game 5 of the second round - a start so rough that Bednar pulled him.
He spent two weeks watching Wedgewood start, then got handed an elimination game against the one team he'd never beaten in five tries.
He outperformed every number attached to his name and was still watching Mark Stone and Cole Smith score the goals that closed the series.
One goal. That's what the offence managed for him.
What this sweep actually tells us about Colorado going forward
Blackwood isn't the problem this summer. He's locked in for five more years at $5.25 million annually through 2030, per Puckpedia - a contract that looks entirely reasonable the morning after he stole a game nobody gave him a chance in.
The real pressure falls on Jared Bednar, who just won the Presidents' Trophy and got swept in the conference final.
It falls on an offence that had Nathan MacKinnon - playing through a knee injury he took in Game 3 - managing one goal in an elimination game.
Colorado's championship window isn't closed. But the questions that need answering this summer don't start in net.
Makar's quote went viral because it humanizes a brutal loss. What it quietly confirms is that the goalie held up his end.
The rest of the team didn't.
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