When Mackenzie Blackwood started to come up with the New Jersey Devils, he was a talented player looking to make a name for himself in the league.
Blackwood was great to start for the New Jersey Devils. He had his ups and downs as many young goalies do, but there was no denying the early progress.
He did, however, start to run into some injury trouble after a while. That led to a dip in his play as he tried to play through it at times. Eventually, as a result of this, New Jersey moved on with the likes of Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid.
Since then, Blackwood has revived his career with the San Jose Sharks. They traded him to the Colorado Avalanche, who were, at the time, looking for a good goaltender. With the rest of Colorado’s roster in the shape that it was (elite), they knew they couldn’t waste it with shady goaltending.
Mackenzie Blackwood was sensational in his NHL playoff debut on Saturday
This run that he’s not had with the Avalanche has earned Blackwood his Stanley Cup playoff debut. He started for them in game one on Saturday night against the Dallas Stars.
Blackwood was as big in the win as any player on the Colorado roster. He made 23 saves on 24 shots. If it wasn’t for a neat redirect by Roope Hintz of the Stars, he would have earned a shutout. That is the kind of goal that every goalie in the league gives up.
Grade-A chances were kept from getting to the back of the net thanks to Blackwood. He didn’t face the highest volume of all time, but the quality was next level. Dallas had a high-paced attack all night, and Blackwood made no mistakes.
Did the Devils give up on Blackwood too soon? You can make that argument, but they didn’t have the time to wait for him to be healthy consistently. There was also no proof that he would be at the time of his departure.
Going forward, Colorado has as good a chance as any to get this done in 2025. That would be their second Stanley Cup in four seasons. This time, Blackwood would like to be the guy on a team that makes a run like that. He will have every opportunity with this elite Avalanche team in front of him.
