Avalanche at Maple Leafs
The Colorado Avalanche attempt to wash away the effects of an embarrassing performance when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs just 24 hours later Sunday night. The Avalanche gave up six goals in the first period en route to a 10-1 loss at Montreal on Saturday, falling for the seventh time in eight games (1-6-1) while managing just 16 shots on goal.
“I’m going to take the blame for that one because we weren’t prepared to start the game,” Colorado’s first-year coach Jared Bednar told reporters. “They’re the best team in the league with the best record at home and we’re all the way down in the standings and we weren’t prepared to play.” The young Maple Leafs won’t make it easy on the Avalanche after snapping a three-game winless stretch with an impressive 4-1 victory at Boston on Saturday. Rookie Auston Matthews and James van Riemsdyk each notched their team-leading 12th goal while Frederik Andersen turned aside 32 shots for Toronto. “The last three games the first period kind of did us in,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock told reporters. “… It still wasn’t the first period we wanted (Saturday), but we didn’t give up the goals and we were able to execute a little bit.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), Sportsnet (Toronto)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (10-15-1): Veteran Jarome Iginla became the 16th player in NHL history to play 1,500 games Saturday, but it wasn't a pleasant one while managing one shot on goal and four penalty minutes. The only other good news for the Avalanche was the return of captain Gabriel Landeskog (lower-body, illness) to the lineup after missing 10 games and he posted four hits and one shot. Nathan MacKinnon notched an assist on Blake Comeau’s goal to give him four points in the last three games and push his team-leading total to 19 — two better than Matt Duchene.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (11-10-5): Matthews recorded his sixth goal in the last seven games Saturday and pushed his point total to 20 — one behind team leader van Riemsdyk, who moved within two of his 300th career point. Rookie forward William Nylander snapped a three-game pointless streak with an assist and posted a plus-2 rating against the Bruins. Andersen allowed two goals or fewer in eight of his last nine games between the pipes and top-pair defenseman Morgan Reilly has registered an assist in three straight games to increase his team-leading total to 14.
OVERTIME
1. The Maple Leafs have points in five straight against the Avalanche (4-0-1) after scoring 12 goals in two wins last season.
2. All of Duchene’s team-leading 10 goals have come on the road and he is tied with Valeri Kamensky for eighth in franchise history with 166 overall.
3. Toronto is 16-for-16 on the penalty kill over the last six games, but has converted just 4-of-36 on the power play over the last 12 contests.