Tonight, the Colorado Avalanche kicked off a four-game road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ultimately, the Avs would be the ones to win this matchup with a final score of 6-3. Let’s take a look at all the action from tonight!
First Period
The Leafs got on the board first, as Darryn Raddysh took a one-timer from the top of the zone, and the puck found its way past Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 1-0.
Colorado would score two unanswered goals to end the period, with Brock Nelson burying the puck past the five-hole
of Sergei Bobrovsky off an incredible touch pass from T.J. Hughes. Nic Roy would create what ended up being the goal-scoring chance next, as he was able to drive in towards the front of the net and get a shot off, and Gabe Landeskog was able to corral the rebound and convert on the scoring chance to make it 2-1 to end the period.
Second Period
Devon Toews would extend Colorado’s lead to 3-1, on a play that looked very similar to Raddysh’s goal in the first period, as he got a shot through to the net from the top of the zone, and was able to find the back of the net.
Easton Cowan made this a one-score game with less than a minute left in the second period with what was just an insane shot that beat Blackwood on the short-side.
Third Period
Jack Roslavic tied the game at 3-3 about five minutes into the third period, as he muscled his way past Brett Kulak, and slid the puck through the five-hole.
Less than a minute later, Colorado took the lead back with Landeskog’s second goal of the night, who found himself open on the post, and Nazem Kadri was able to hit him with a fantastic pass through the crease.
Artturi Lehkonen would give the Avs a bit more insurance before Toronto had even pulled their goalie, as he scored his 13th goal of the season to give Colorado a 5-3 lead. Martin Necas would score on the empty net after that, for a final score of 6-3.
Takeaways
This was another game where it was awesome to see Colorado not go away when things didn’t go their way. Now, they didn’t find themselves in a multi-goal deficit or anything in this game, of course, but they were down early, and they stayed in it once again and were eventually rewarded for their efforts. When the Leafs did push back and tie the game at 3-3 early in the first period, Colorado showed some ‘bend don’t break’ play and didn’t panic or fall apart when Toronto found some life late in the game. As nice as it would be to just stop teams with a final score of 4-0 every single night, unfortunately, that’s unrealistic, and you are way more likely to get some pushback from teams like Toronto did tonight, and knowing how to win in those situations is only going to serve you better throughout the season. Tonight was a great way to kick off a long road trip, and hopefully the Avs can continue that play going forward on this trip.
Upcoming
Colorado continues their road trip with a matchup against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, November 12. Puck drop will be at 5:00 p.m. MT.
