After coming home with a split on the road, the Colorado Avalanche are back on home ice for another Saturday night showdown!
Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs make their only regular season visit to Denver, with a few new faces in their lineup!
Colorado Avalanche (3-1-0)
The Opponent: Toronto Maple Leafs (2-2-01)
Time: 5:00 P.M. MDT/7:00 P.M. EDT
Watch: ALT, ALT+ (Avalanche Local Broadcast Area), NHL Network, NHL Center Ice (Outside Regional Broadcast Areas – US), SN+ (Canadian National Broadcast)
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Colorado Avalanche
The Avs return home after splitting their first pair of back-to-back road games. They lost 3-2 on a (literal) last minute goal this past Wednesday against the Winnipeg Jets, but rebounded with a strong showing against the Calgary Flames in a 7-3 victory this past Thursday. The loss in Winnipeg was the first for Mackenzie Blackwood this season, while Scott Wedgewood earned his first win in his season debut against Calgary.
Jaden Schwartz scored three goals across both contests. Fedor Svechkov scored his first goal in an Avalanche sweater against Winnipeg. Zachary L’Heureux, acquired with Svechkov from Nashville in the offseason, made his Avalanche debut against Winnipeg and recorded his first assist on Nathan MacKinnon’s eventual game-winning goal in Calgary. L’Heureux also had his first fight for the Avs in a short bout with Calgary’s Matt Coronato.
Devon Toews, who had a career-low three goals last season, scored a pair of goals against Calgary. His defensive partner in Cale Makar also scored a pair of goals against his hometown team.
T.J. Hughes also recorded his first point of his NHL career, assisting on Schwartz’s first goal on against Calgary.
Head coach Jared Bednar said this of his third line in comments after the Calgary game. “That line’s found a little bit of chemistry. A couple of points each [Wednesday] night, again tonight. Schwartz and [Svechkov] and our young guy Hughes on that line, they’re doing some good things, and if we can keep building that chemistry, I like where that line’s going.”
When asked about what Hughes and L’Heureux have shown to this point in the season, Bednar said, “Hughes has fit in in all kinds of ways for us, including on the top power play. He’s a smart guy, doesn’t throw the puck away, really good passer. I think he he thinks the game really well, got a great brain and hockey sense. Can play on the top end skill guys and make plays.
“L’Heureux, this is kind of our first look at him here on this back to back […] He’s a rugged guy, straight-line player, will play through you, kind of fits the identity of our fourth line. He had a good night again tonight. I really liked his game [Wednesday] in Winnipeg. […] We’re excited about our team and some of those young guys being able to come in and help us. [Svechkov] is another young player that’s really showed up nicely for us here at the start of the season.”
While the Avs remain perfect on the penalty kill, the power play has gone three games without a goal since going 4/5 in the season opener against Los Angeles on September 30.
MacKinnon leads all skaters in points (8) and assists (5), while also sharing the team lead in penalty minutes (5) with L’Heureux. He also leads the team in goals (3), along with Makar, Schwartz, and Artturi Lehkonen.
The Avs have split every season series against Toronto going back to the 2017-2018 season. Their last victory on home ice came against Toronto was in a 7-3 victory on March 05, 2025.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Gabe Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Nazem Kadri
Jaden Schwartz – Fedor Svechkov – T.J. Hughes
Parker Kelly – Nicolas Roy – Zachary L’Heureux
Defense:
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Between the Pipes:
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Toronto Maple Leafs
The lottery balls finally bounced Toronto’s way this offseason, giving them the first overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft. At the draft in June, they selected left-wing Gavin McKenna, whom many projected to be the top pick of the draft. McKenna scored his first goal and assist of his young NHL career this past Tuesday in a 5-4 overtime victory over the Nashville Predators.
The draft was one of many offseason transactions for Toronto. They sent a fifth round pick in this year’s draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Darren Raddysh on June 19; Raddysh signed an eight-year, $68 million dollar contract with Toronto as part of the transaction. Toronto also acquired center Nick Paul from Tampa in exchange for goaltender Dennis Hildeby and a pair of draft picks in 2027 & 2028 on July 01.
As free agency began, Toronto’s overhaul continued. Free agent goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky signed a three-year, $21 million dollar contract (more on him later) on July 01. Former one-time Avalanche forward Brandon Duhaime also signed a three-year $7.8 million dollar contract the same day.
Shortly before the start of the season, Toronto made their biggest move: they acquired right-wing Kirill Marchenko, goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, and former Avalanche forward Miles Wood from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for left-wings Matthew Knies and Steven Lorentz, defenseman Emil Andrei, and a 2027 second round pick. Marchenko, 26, scored his first (and so far, only) goal with Toronto in a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on October 03.
With an overhauled roster come overhauled expectations. Toronto has risen to the occasion in the way only a Toronto-based hockey team can: playing .500 hockey. They are 2-2-1 to start the season, and are coming into tonight’s game off a 4-3 defeat against the Vegas Golden Knights this past Thursday. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, Toronto did the Leafiest thing possible in allowing Vegas to score three unanswered goals to tie the game and lose in the shootout round.
The loss was Bobrovsky’s third of the season, and since joining Toronto, he has yet to post a win. Anthony Stolarz, who was Bobrovsky’s backup in Florida during 2023-2024 season, has recorded both wins for Toronto this season.
Head coach Jim Hiller spoke on the challenge of facing the Avs ahead of tonight’s game. “They play a pretty unique style of game, I would say. They are a really dynamic rush team. The defense probably skate as well as six [defenders] as any other group in the League, so it presents some challenges defensively for sure.
“For us, I think, we’ve got to continue to focus on being in the offensive zone and tight support. We’ve seen some good strides that way. That’s the best defense, really: if you can just hold onto pucks and be dangerous and tire people out—which Vegas did to us—we weren’t able to create any offense because we were too tired, so that’s kind of the game we have to play against Colorado.”
Hiller also mentioned that he does not expect John Tavares to play against Colorado tonight due to the birth of his son Tucker on Friday.
William Nylander and Auston Matthews are tied for first among all Toronto forwards in points (6). Nylander leads the team in goals (3), while Matthews leads the team in assists (4).
Toronto’s last victory over Colorado came on January 12th, a 4-3 overtime victory at Ball Arena last season.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Kirill Marchenko – Auston Matthews – Jack Roslovic
Easton Cowan – Nick Paul – William Nylander
Gavin McKenna – Teddy Blueger – Colton Sissons
Brandon Duhaime – Zack MacEwen – Bo Groulx
Defense:
Jake McCabe – Chris Tanev
Morgan Reilly – Darren Raddysh
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Troy Stecher
Between the Pipes:
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
