The Colorado Avalanche had the puck a lot Saturday night at Ball Arena and looked pretty formidable when they had it.
When the Avs didn’t have it was the issue.
William Nylander had two goals and three assists, and the Maple Leafs scored twice on the previously impentraenable Avalanche penalty kill en route to a 6-3 win at Ball Arena. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice for the Avs, who fell to 3-2 at the start of this season.
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 17 of 22 shots, but he and the guys in front of him had a second period to forget. Colorado controlled the play for a large chunk of the middle period, but Toronto scored three times on four shots to grab the lead.
Nylander scored the first power-play goal against the Avs of the season at 6:53 of the second. All four Colorado penalty killers were caught on the same side of the ice as the puck, and Gavin McKenna, the first selection in the 2026 NHL draft, sent it from the right corner to Nylander alone near the left post.
That was also Toronto’s first shot on goal of the period. At one point, the Avs had a 23-4 advantage in shot attempts, but the goals were even.
Brock Nelson pushed Colorado back in front at 12:25 of the middle period. He found a loose puck just outside the blue paint and was able to flip it into the top-left corner of the net for his second goal of the season.
The Avs appeared to be well in control of the play at that point, but the Maple Leafs struck twice late in the period. Nylander scored again at 16:47.
All three members of the Colorado top line had left the defensive zone, but Brett Kulak’s outlet pass was intercepted by Nick Paul near the right point. Nylander collected a pass from Auston Matthews as the Avs tried to scramble back into position, but it was too late.
Easton Cowan put the visitors in front 4-3 on the next shift. It was another coverage bust by the Avs. Nylander carried the puck towards the left corner, then pulled up and got it to Morgan Reilly. He found Cowan all alone near the right faceoff circle for a one-timer and Toronto’s third tally of the period in just four shots on target.
Matthews made it a 5-3 game with Toronto’s second power-play goal of the night. Josh Manson grabbed the puck in his own end and tried to go coast-to-coast, but McKenna tied up his stick, and he couldn’t get a shot off.
The Leafs went the other way, and after Manson fell, the Avs had only three skaters back to defend the rush. Nylander found Matthews, the unmarked trailer, at 12:02 of the third period.
Former Avalanche defenseman Nick Blankenburg gave Toronto an early lead 3:03 into the contest. Blankenburg, who arrived just before the trade deadline last year to be Colorado’s No. 7 defenseman, is in a similar role for the Maple Leafs.
Toronto played 11 forwards and seven defensemen in this contest, with John Tavares away from the team for the birth of his child. Blankenburg snuck down from the right point and collected a cross-ice pass from Nylander near the right circle before roofing a shot behind Blackwood for his first goal in a Toronto uniform.
MacKinnon answered with the next two tallies. He drove to the edge of the net but pulled up and surprised Sergei Bobrovsky by sliding the puck along the ice through the goaltender at 10:46 of the first.
That was No. 4 on the season for MacKinnon, who led the NHL with 53 goals last year. No. 5 came less than five minutes later. MacKinnon carried the puck from the right wall across the top of the Toronto zone to the top of the left circle, then turned back and eventually flicked a shot from between the circles that beat Bobrovsky through traffic.
