Avalanche Keep Rolling Against Leafs

 

Photo Courtesy of Mile High Hockey

Well, this one is going to sting for Leaf fans, last night Toronto began their latest road swing starting with a trip to Denver to face the red-hot Avalanche who heading into this matchup had won their last ten games at home. Toronto would be without Mitch Marner and Pierre Engvall as they are both dealing with Covid. So, in their place would be Brett Seney coming up from the Marlies and Nick Ritchie would return after clearing Waivers recently. Jack Campbell would once again be in goal for the visiting Leafs and for Colorado it would be Darcy Kuemper.

The opening period didn’t start out all that positive for the Leafs as they would give up the first seven shots on goal but for Toronto Jack Campbell was there every time he was called upon and he managed to keep the Avalanche from opening the scoring. I have to say that seeing all the games in the States being played with full buildings makes me miss having fans in the arena when the Leafs are at home because fans make a game fun, and the Avalanche fans were loud and rightfully so because their team had gotten off to a fast start. Unfortunately, they would quiet down quick because it would be Toronto opening the scoring with a goal coming just prior to eight minutes played. An Erik Johnson point shot would hit the glass and on the counterattack Michael Bunting would come skating down the Left-Wing side on and odd man rush with Alex Kerfoot joining him, Bunting would send a pass to Kerfoot who would one time the puck passed Kuemper for his sixth goal of the season and Toronto would lead the game 1-0 despite likely not deserving it due to their slow start. It’s also worth mentioning that Bunting thanks to his thirteenth assist gives him now twenty points on the season he has been a welcome addition to the Leaf lineup. So, with Toronto opening the scoring they would begin to find their footing and grab control of this contest. As time would go by in the opening frame Toronto would spend more and more time in their opponent’s end of the rink and the Leafs would be rewarded as late in period one Auston Matthews would end his two-game goal drought as Kerfoot would work the puck to the point where Morgan Rielly would see his centering pass gathered by Matthews who would back hand the puck into the net for his twenty first goal of the season giving the Leafs a 2-0 advantage. Toronto would triple their lead just seconds later when Alex Kerfoot would take the puck away from Nathan MacKinnon and then quickly send the puck to Matthews who would beat Kuemper on the far side for his second of the period and his twenty second of the season and just like that the Leafs move ahead 3-0. After this goal there would be a goalie change as Kuemper would let in three goals on nine shots, so their coach decided to switch goalies and hopefully spark the team. If you have watched the Avalanche at any point this season and especially during their ten-game winning streak at home, you would know that Colorado with their potent offense they are never out of a game. Late in period one the Avs would find their way onto the board as Devon Toews would intercept a Jake Muzzin pass and quickly head towards the Leafs end and we would see beautiful passing play where Landeskog would send a cross ice pass to Mikko Rantanen who would then drop the puck back to Nathan MacKinnon who was walking right down the slot and his wrist shot would beat Campbell between the pads for his fifth goal of the season. With the Avalanche trailing 3-1 they would press for more goals, but the first period would end with Toronto leading by two.

 

Honestly even though Toronto was ahead after the first period you could sense after the goalie switch the Colorado Avalanche seemed to be an entirely different team. They would start the second period once again using their speed but again Jack Campbell was prepared, and he would turn each attempt aside. Just after five minutes of action the Leafs would find themselves on the powerplay as Wayne Simmonds would draw a hooking penalty sending Alex Newhook to the sin bin. The teams top powerplay unit would fail to score despite gathering a few good chances so Sheldon Keefe would put the second unit on the ice to finish the remaining fifty seconds. With the Leafs set up in the Colorado end a Rasmus Sandin shot would go wide but Ilya Mikheyev would regain possession and then feed the puck to Wayne Simmonds whose shot would be stopped by Pavel Francouz who had come in, in relief but the rebound would be pounced on by Nick Ritchie who would pot his second goal of the season and the Leafs powerplay would continue their streak of nine goals in nine games and the Leafs lead would grow to 4-1 and things were looking good for Leafs Nation. The Avalanche would continue to press, and they began outshooting Toronto handily in the game forcing Campbell to make some important saves. As all hockey fans know you can’t rely on your goalie to bail you out all the time, although it isn’t easy you need to sometimes match your opponent’s intensity level. Unfortunately, Toronto would see their lead shrink to two as the Leafs were caught in their end for too long unable to change and late in the middle frame the Avalanche would capitalize. Nazem Kadri would gather the puck and send it to Colorado’s young defenseman Cale Makar and his wrist shot would find the back of the net for his fifteenth goal of the season leading all blueliners in that category, and the Leaf lead is now 4-2. Toronto would survive another late period surge and would be leading this game with just twenty minutes left in regulation.

 

Now, I am sure everyone reading this article has surely watched and followed hockey for a long time, likely since you were kids. I am sure you have heard many coaches or players over the years talk about surviving an early storm. When a coach says that they are referring to surviving the first five-to-ten-minute push they know their opponent is going to bring. Well, last night this was something the Leafs were unable to do because when the third period started the Avalanche came out flying and the Leafs were simply stunned because they couldn’t sustain anything on offense, it was honestly wave after wave of attack by Colorado.

Just before eight minutes played in the third the Leafs would find themselves shorthanded as TJ Brodie would trip up Gabriel Landeskog, now on the broadcast it was mentioned that this was a good penalty to take. I am sorry but unless you are protecting your goalie there is never a “good penalty” to take especially when facing a powerplay with the fire power of the Avs. However, the Leafs penalty kill thus far this season has been very strong sitting seventh in the league and this Brodie penalty would be killed off but not before Jack Campbell would make an appearance on the highlight reel. With twenty seconds remaining and the Leafs doing all they can to prevent a goal after some nice passing Samuel Girard would be stopped in front, but a rebound would come out to Devon Toews who was staring at a wide-open net with Campbell down and out of position. With what was thought to be a sure goal Campbell had other ideas as he would dive across the net in pure desperation, he would somehow make the glove save leaving the Avalanche players and fans with their hands on their heads wondering how Jack Campbell was able to make the save.

 

The feel-good moment for Leaf fans wouldn’t last long as on the next shift Toronto’s lead would but cut to one. Mikko Rantanen would win a puck battle behind the Leaf net and center a pass to Gabe Landeskog who was left all alone in front and his backhand shot would beat a sprawling Campbell and Colorado would trail 4-3 with the Leafs clearly on their heels. Colorado would be like a shark that smells blood as they looked to complete the comeback and tie this game and fans in attendance didn’t have to wait long as around ninety seconds later with the Avs pressing Mikko Rantanen would send a backhand pass between his legs to J.T. Compher who would send the puck passed Campbell as he was caught looking the other way losing site of the puck. Compher’s seventh would level this game at 4-4 and if you’re Toronto you are hoping to get your footing and have a responding few shifts and at least get this game to overtime and salvage a point because untill ten minutes left in the third although it wasn’t perfect the Leafs had played a decent road game with an effort that deserved at the very least one point. With Toronto when it comes to playing close games you just never know what is going to happen. Nick Ritchie who earlier did something positive scoring a powerplay goal would then follow it up with a decision that would lead me to yelling some colourful language at my tv. With two and a half minutes left Nick Ritchie would take an unnecessary cross-checking penalty as he would cut across and lay the lumber to Tyson Jost sending Toronto to a crucial penalty kill. Despite a few scoring chances for the Avalanche regulation would expire and the Leafs would white knuckle their way to the overtime session.

 

The overtime period wouldn’t last two long when after Auston Matthews would see his attempt stopped the Avs would counter and Rantanen would drop the puck to Kadri who would work a give and go pass with Devon Toews whose shot would beat Campbell and with his sixth goal of the season the Avalanche would improve to 11-0 on home ice winning this game 5-4 in overtime.

 

Obviously, the Leafs would leave the game frustrated for not closing it out but at the same time they had won their five previous games and they managed at least one point and any point banked is a positive. Also, throughout the season we have seen a team that is capable of rebounding their next opportunity and I fully expect Toronto to find their way back into the win column very soon. Toronto’s next action comes Tuesday night when they travel to Sin City to meet another difficult opponent in the Vegas Golden Knights who are also looking for redemption as last night former goalie Marc-Andre Fleury backstopped his Chicago Blackhawks to a 2-1 win over Vegas. So, Tuesday night’s matchup is likely going to be an entertaining one but make sure to have a cup of coffee with you because a trip to Nevada unfortunately means a 10pm puck drop.

 

Thanks as always for reading