Nylander, Matthews lead Maple Leafs past Avalanche for first road win

DENVER · William Nylander and Easton Cowan scored 46 seconds apart late in the second period to propel the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. Nylander finished with two goals and a career-high three assists for five points, tying his career best. Auston Matthews added two goals and two assists as the Maple Leafs earned their first road victory of the season. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice for Colorado in its first home loss. Nick Blankenburg opened the scoring for Toronto just over three minutes into the game in his Maple Leafs debut. MacKinnon tied the game midway through the first period with a rush through the defence and gave Colorado a 2-1 lead with his second goal at 15:14. Nylander tied the game on a power play early in the second period, but Brock Nelson restored the Avalanche lead later in the frame.

The game turned on two quick strikes from the Maple Leafs. Nylander tied the game 3-3 at 16:47 of the second period, a goal that marked his 700th NHL point. Cowan then gave Toronto the lead for good just 46 seconds later, converting a one-timer off a pass from Morgan Rielly. "He was great. I thought he was just skating all over the puck, making plays," Matthews said of Nylander. "It's a big-time game from him."

Matthews extended the lead to 5-3 with a power-play goal midway through the third period and sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final minute. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves for his first win of the season. "We haven't been good enough in front of him in his first couple starts," Matthews said. "He was huge for us tonight, and (it was) well deserved."

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Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 17 shots for the Avalanche, who went 0 for 5 on the power play. "The chances that we do give up are just way too dangerous," said Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog. "Special teams just wasn't good enough tonight. Simple as that." Colorado coach Jared Bednar said mental mistakes were costly. "I just did not like some of the chances," Bednar said. "It was mental mistakes, and when they got their chances, they capitalized on them."

Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller praised his team's response. "They had a couple rush chances in the first, (and) second period got a little crazy," Hiller said. "But what a response in the third period." The Maple Leafs improved to 3-2-1, having alternated wins and losses to start the season. The Avalanche fell to 3-2-0. 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 against the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night.

With files from Sportsnet, Yahoo Sports and Stamford Advocate