DENVER (AP) — Scott Wedgewood made 32 saves for his second shutout of the season, and the NHL-best Colorado Avalanche beat the Utah Mammoth 1-0 on Tuesday night.
Wedgewood's 10th career shutout helped extend Colorado's home winning streak to 13 games. The Avalanche have won six in a row overall and eight of nine heading into the holiday break.
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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard is congratulated as he passes the team box after scoring a goal against the Utah Mammoth in the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche center Jack Drury, left, battles for control of the puck with Utah Mammoth left wing Lawson Crouse in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, right, drives past Utah Mammoth defenseman Sean Durzi in the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood, front, deflects a shot as Utah Mammoth left wing Lawson Crouse looks on in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood, right, stops a shot by Utah Mammoth left wing Daniil But in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado’s 61 points are the second most in the NHL after 36 games behind the 1929-30 Boston Bruins, who had 63 points at that stage.
Samuel Girard scored the lone goal for the Avalanche (27-2-7), who remain unbeaten in regulation at home (15-0-2). They have not lost on home ice since Carolina’s 5-4 shootout win on Oct. 23.
Vitek Vanecek stopped 25 shots for Utah, which had won two of three.
The Mammoth’s No. 1 goaltender, Karel Vejmelka, was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. Utah signed Colten McIntyre to an amateur-tryout agreement to serve as Vanecek’s backup for the night.
Vanecek had a strong performance against the NHL's top-scoring team. The Avalanche averaged 4.6 goals in the five games heading into Tuesday night.
Girard stole the puck from Clayton Keller in the neutral zone, skated in ahead of Keller and beat Vanecek with a backhander at 7:57 of the second period.
Wedgewood kept the Mammoth off the scoreboard with big saves in the second period. He made a blocker save on Daniil But, stopped Dylan Guenther on a breakaway late in the frame and 30 seconds later made a glove save on Keller that stood after a review.
Utah turned up the pressure in the third period and pulled Vanecek for an extra skater with 2:03 left but couldn't get the equalizer.
Mammoth: Off until Monday night, when they host Nashville.
Avalanche: At Vegas on Saturday night.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard is congratulated as he passes the team box after scoring a goal against the Utah Mammoth in the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche center Jack Drury, left, battles for control of the puck with Utah Mammoth left wing Lawson Crouse in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, right, drives past Utah Mammoth defenseman Sean Durzi in the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood, front, deflects a shot as Utah Mammoth left wing Lawson Crouse looks on in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood, right, stops a shot by Utah Mammoth left wing Daniil But in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The World Health Organization chief said Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading rapidly and now poses a “very high” risk there, as a lack of medical resources and anger among the population hamper the response in a vulnerable and conflict-ridden region.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of global spread remains low, but that the U.N. health agency was revising upward its assessment of the risk within Congo from its previous categorization of “high.”
The WHO chief noted that 82 cases have been confirmed in Congo, with seven confirmed deaths, though he said the outbreak is believed to be “much larger.” He said there are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths.
Supplies were being rushed to Ituri province in the northeastern corner of the country, where the illness has been spreading for weeks in areas were many people have been displaced by armed conflict.
Frontline medical staff have struggled with a lack of resources and, in some cases, pushback due to what has been characterized as misinformation or situations where medical policy has clashed with local customs such as burial rites.
On Thursday, an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara was set on fire by youths who were angered when they were blocked from retrieving the body of a friend who apparently had died of Ebola, according to witnesses and police.
Bodies of Ebola victims can be highly contagious, and medical authorities are trying to control burials whenever possible.
Julienne Lusenge, president of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development, a local aid group, said the population’s anger is mostly due to misinformation.
“We have lived through years and years of conflict and hardship so rumors spread easily,” she said.
She said some churches have told their large congregations that the outbreak is fake and that divine protection makes medical care unnecessary.
The United Nations said Friday it released $60 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund to accelerate the response in Congo and in the region.
The U.S. has pledged $23 million in funding to bolster the response in Congo and Uganda, and said it would also fund the establishment of up to 50 Ebola treatment clinics in the affected regions.
But Ugandan authorities said Thursday on X they were not aware of any treatment center being set up by the U.S.
Lusenge said her group’s small hospital near the Ituri provincial capital of Bunia lacks basic protective equipment as health workers struggle to respond to the outbreak.
Patients showing symptoms are first examined at the hospital before being referred to a larger treatment center, exposing nurses and doctors to possible infection, she said.
“We have made requests to different partners, but we have not yet really received anything,” Lusenge said. “We only have hand sanitizer and a few masks for the nurses, but we need much more than that.”
Both the WHO and Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the outbreak is larger than the cases detected so far.
“I expect the number of cases to increase as surveillance becomes more and more rigorous," Africa CDP Director-General Jean Kaseya said.
The region's already-weak health infrastructure and surveillance capacity has been further weakened by international aid cuts, experts say.
Armed conflict in the region further complicates efforts to handle the crisis. There are over 920,000 internally displaced people in Ituri Province, according to the U.N.
Local leaders said an attack by militants linked to the Islamic State group killed at least 17 people on Tuesday in Alima, a village in Ituri.
“The outbreak can still be contained but the window for action is narrow,” Gabriela Arenas from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Friday. “What happens in the coming days in homes, in communities and across borders will matter enormously.”
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Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal. Keaten reported from Geneva. Associated Press writers Jean Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo; Mark Banchereau and Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.
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For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse
The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Charred hospital beds stand in smoldering Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026, after it was set fire by people angry at being stopped from retrieving a body, according to a witness and police. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
Flames and smoke rise from an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
Medical staff carry an Ebola patient to a treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
A person is wearing a protective face mask in front of the WHO logo, during the media regarding the epidemic of Ebola disease, during a press conference at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
