Avalanche at Maple Leafs
All-Star center Nathan MacKinnon and his Colorado Avalanche hope to continue impressive streaks when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday to open a six-game road trip. The Avalanche have matched the second-longest winning streak in club history by capturing nine in a row while MacKinnon is just two points shy of the league lead with 59 as he enters the contest with a five-game goal-scoring streak and a nine-game point run.
Colorado has allowed just 14 goals and never trailed during their winning streak, which equals the nine-game run it had in October 2000 - three shy of the team record from one year earlier, and it all started with a 4-3 overtime triumph over Toronto on Dec. 29. “That team probably had five Hall-of-Famers on it,” Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson told reporters of the 2000 streak. “(Our streak) just speaks to commitment to team play. We’re playing with pace, and a lot of teams just don’t have an answer for it right now.” The Maple Leafs had lost four in a row and trailed by two goals entering the third period at Ottawa on Saturday before scoring three straight en route to a 4-3 victory after a second-intermission speech by veteran forward Patrick Marleau. “When guys like Patrick Marleau step up and say something in the locker room, guys are going to listen,” Toronto's Auston Matthews told reporters. “He’s a soft-spoken guy, but when he says something, you’ve got to listen up, and that kind of got the ball rolling.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Altitude 2 (Colorado), Sportsnet Ontario, TVA (Toronto)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (26-16-3): MacKinnon has collected eight goals and 11 assists during his point streak while linemate Mikko Rantanen is second on the team with 46 points, including five in his last two games. Jonathan Bernier has played a big role during the team’s hot streak after taking over for the injured Semyon Varmalov, going 8-0-0 with a .958 save percentage since Dec. 31. Captain Gabriel Landeskog (34 points) shares the team lead in plus/minus (plus-16) with defenseman Patrik Nemeth (plus-10 in his last eight games), who was claimed off waivers from Dallas before the season.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (26-17-5): Matthews snapped his four-game point drought with his 20th goal of the campaign and an assist in Saturday’s victory, increasing his team-leading total to 35 points - three more than both William Nylander and Mitch Marner. Defenseman Morgan Rielly, who is fourth on the team with 31 points, sat out Saturday’s contest with an upper-body injury and is questionable moving forward. Marleau, who is third on the team with 15 goals, has yet to notch a point in eight games this month while Nazem Kadri (14 goals) has produced just one tally in his last 19 contests.
OVERTIME
1. Toronto G Frederik Andersen, who did not play in the game on Dec. 29, is 2-1-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average in three career contests versus Colorado.
2. The Maple Leafs are 5-1-2 in their last eight meetings with the Avalanche, with the only regulation loss coming at home.
3. Bernier posted a 59-68-17 record and .915 save percentage in three seasons with Toronto from 2013-16.