Nylander, Matthews lead Maple Leafs past Avalanche
William Nylander tied a career high with five points and Auston Matthews added two goals and two assists in Toronto's 6-3 road win.
DENVER — William Nylander and Easton Cowan scored 46 seconds apart late in the second period and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-3 on Saturday night at Ball Arena.
Nylander finished with two goals and a career-high three assists for five points, tying a career high. Auston Matthews had two goals and two assists for the Maple Leafs (3-2-1), who got their first road win of the season.
Nathan MacKinnon scored twice for the Avalanche (3-2-0), which suffered its first loss in three home games. Brock Nelson also scored and Mackenzie Blackwood made 16 saves in his first setback of the season.
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Nick Blankenburg gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 3:03 of the first period in his Maple Leafs debut after signing a one-year contract on Sept. 27. MacKinnon tied it 1-1 at 10:46, driving the net from the right circle for a wrist shot.
MacKinnon gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 15:14 with a wrister from above the centre hashes that went off the glove of screened goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Nylander tied it 2-2 at 6:53 of the second on a power play, the first power-play goal the Avalanche allowed this season. Nelson broke the tie to make it 3-2 Colorado at 12:25 when he snapped his own rebound past Bobrovsky.
Nylander tied it 3-3 at 16:47 with a wrist shot from above the right hash marks. Cowan then scored to make it 4-3 at 17:33 when his one-timer from the right dot beat Blackwood inside the post.
Matthews extended the lead to 5-3 with a power-play goal at 12:02 of the third period. His wrist shot from the right circle went short side past the glove.
Matthews scored an empty-net goal at 19:21 for the 6-3 final. Bobrovsky made 30 saves for his first win of the season.
The Avalanche finished 0 for 5 on the power play, which included eight seconds of a 5-on-3 early in the second period.
Maple Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev left the game at 11:08 of the first period with an upper-body injury. Avalanche forward Logan O'Connor was away from the team following the sudden passing of his father, former NHL defenceman Myles O'Connor.
Up next: The Maple Leafs wrap up their three-game trip at Utah on Tuesday night.
With files from Sportsnet, Yahoo Sports and Stamford Advocate