What the Maple Leafs showed in their late-night test against the Avalanche
Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
In a game that saw a fast and furious start that never let up, the Maple Leafs showed they can hang with the best of the best after coming away with a 4-3 OT win vs. Colorado.
Coming into Monday's contest against the Colorado Avalanche, the Maple Leafs had won seven of nine games and looked ever the dangerous team we expected when the season opened up.
Being led by their captain, the team is seemingly weathering any storm that comes their way but the biggest test of the year came on Monday against Colorado.
Maple Leafs vs. Avalanche: What you missed
Sporting their retro Nordiques jerseys, the Avalanche kicked things off quickly with a flurry of chances against goaltender Joseph Woll that were bravely turned aside, which lead to a few chances for Toronto including one to open the scoring thanks to rookie Easton Cowan:
His bank shot off Brent Burns was the icebreaker, but the Avalanche responded quickly thereafter with goals from Cale Makar and Brock Nelson to make it 2-1 Avalanche after one:
It didn't take long for the Maple Leafs to get it back as just over two minutes into the second period, Bobby McMann went absolutely nuts and turned on the jets for a gorgeous breakaway goal:
Then it was the captain who decided he wanted in on the fun when he toe-dragged the puck and wired it past rookie goaltender Trent Miner to make it 3-2:
The look Matthews gave after the goal says it all about how confident he and the Maple Leafs are feeling.
After Colorado came back to quickly tie it at three apiece thanks to Martin Necas, it was William Nylander in OT who took the feed from Oliver Ekman-Larsson and finished things off but not right before Colorado had the chance to end it:
Toronto's collective effort gives them a massive wave of confidence
This was a game that honestly felt inevitable but not for Toronto. The Avalanche had won 17 straight games at home, are far and away the best team in the league and had some incredible chances all night.
But the gritty and scrappy Leafs never gave up, even if they lost Nick Robertson for the night after blocking a shot.
Toronto's special teams wasn't amazing but it was effective. They were able to hold Colorado to only one goal on three chances, and while their power-play went scoreless; they had tons of chances.
Toronto blocked more shots (22-12), won more face-offs (50.9%-49.1%), kept pace with the shot total (34-31 COL), and actually had eight takeaways to Colorado's three.
Combined with Joseph Woll standing on his head, a great defensive effort from Brandon Carlo who had five blocks and a never-say-die attitude; the Maple Leafs proved at least for one night they could hang with the best in the NHL.
This makes the next few games a lot easier mentally, as the team knows they can handle whoever and whatever gets thrown at them. This is the scrappy, feisty group Craig Berube envisioned and the team has fully bought in.
The win pushed Toronto (23-15-7) to 53 points and secured them the first wild card spot for now, a huge turnaround from a month ago where they were dead last in the Atlantic.
The Maple Leafs head to Utah for another late-night game against the Mammoth on Tuesday night as they look to make it five straight wins vs. a surprisingly solid Utah squad.
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| POLL | ||
JANVIER 13|724 ANSWERS What the Maple Leafs showed in their late-night test against the Avalanche Who do you think was the top performer for Toronto vs. Colorado? | ||
| Brandon Carlo | 67 | 9.3 % |
| Auston Matthews | 112 | 15.5 % |
| William Nylander | 131 | 18.1 % |
| Joseph Woll | 414 | 57.2 % |
| List of polls | ||