Toronto Maple Leafs at Colorado Avalanche
· National Hockey League
Nylander ties a career high with 5 points, Maple Leafs beat Avs, 6-3
Nylander finished with two goals and had a career-high three assists to finish with five points, also tying a career high. Auston Matthews had two goals and two assists for Toronto, which has alternated wins and losses to start the season.
Nathan MacKinnon scored twice for Colorado, which suffered its first loss in three home games. Brock Nelson also scored and Mackenzie Blackwood had 16 saves in his first setback of the season. The Avs finished 0 of 5 on the power play, which included eight seconds of a 5 on 3 early in the second period.
After Nick Blankenburg gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead 3:03 into the game, MacKinnon’s bull-rush through the Toronto defense tied it midway through the first. He gave Colorado the lead with his second of the night at 15:14.
Nylander tied it 19 seconds after Jaden Schwartz took high-sticking minor early in the second, the first power-play goal the Avs allowed this season. Brock Nelson scored off his own rebound later in the period to give Colorado a 3-2 lead before the Maple Leafs grabbed control in the second.
Nylander’s second of the night tied it at 16:47 and Cowan scored a one-timer off a pass from Morgan Reilly gave Toronto the lead at 17:33. The Matthews made it 5-3 with a power-play goal midway through the third and sealed it when he scored into an empty net in the final minute.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots.
Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor was away from the team following the sudden passing of his father, former NHL defenseman Myles O’Connor.
Avalanche: At Dallas on Tuesday night.
Regular Season SeriesTOR leads series 1-0
Scoring Summary
 |
Goal | 1st Period 3:03 | Nick Blankenburg Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: William Nylander (4), Nick Paul (2) |
 |
Goal | 1st Period 10:46 | Nathan MacKinnon Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Brett Kulak (4), Devon Toews (3) |
|
Goal | 1st Period 15:14 | Nathan MacKinnon Goal (5) Wrist Shot, assists: Cale Makar (4), Martin Necas (3) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 6:53 | William Nylander Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Gavin McKenna (3), Auston Matthews (5) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 12:25 | Brock Nelson Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: none |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 16:47 | William Nylander Goal (5) Wrist Shot, assists: Auston Matthews (6), Nick Paul (3) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 17:33 | Easton Cowan Goal (3) Slap Shot, assists: Morgan Rielly (4), William Nylander (5) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 12:02 | Auston Matthews Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: William Nylander (6), Kirill Marchenko (4) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 19:21 | Auston Matthews Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: none |
Statistics
 TOR |
 COL |
|
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Blocked Shots | 10 |
| 22 | Hits | 16 |
| 5 | Takeaways | 6 |
| 23 | Shots | 33 |
| 2 | Power Play Goals | 0 |
| 4 | Power Play Opportunities | 5 |
| 50.0 | Power Play Percentage | 0.0 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 30 | Faceoffs Won | 34 |
| 46.9 | Faceoff Win Percent | 53.1 |
| 10 | Giveaways | 15 |
| 6 | Total Penalties | 5 |
| 12 | Penalty Minutes | 10 |
Colorado Avalanche Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Zachary L'Heureux, LW | Out | Oct 17 |
| Nicolas Roy, C | Out | Oct 17 |
| Logan O'Connor, RW | Injured Reserve | Oct 14 |
| Georgii Merkulov, C | Injured Reserve | Sep 28 |
Toronto Maple Leafs Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| John Tavares, C | Injured Reserve | Oct 17 |
| Dakota Joshua, C | Injured Reserve | Oct 17 |
| Miles Wood, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 15 |
| Chris Tanev, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 15 |
| Max Domi, C | Injured Reserve | Sep 30 |
