Having endured a challenging stretch with only one win in their previous six games, the Maple Leafs, in a determined effort to regain their form, successfully halted the Avalanche’s two-game winning streak on Wednesday, March 19th, securing their own second consecutive victory in the process. Joseph Woll’s stellar performance between the pipes, where he turned aside 38 shots, proved crucial in the Leafs’ defensive effort. Valeri Nichushkin scored the lone goal for Colorado, which had been his 18th of the season and his third in the past five games. Auston Matthews and Steven Lorentz each scored for Toronto. Colorado’s nine-game point streak was put to an end (8-0-1). The Maple Leafs head to New York to take on the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, while the Avalanche will be in Ottawa on Thursday.
Toronto Maple Leafs Lineup:
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Holmberg – Tavares – Nylander
McMann – Domi – Robertson
Lorentz – Laughton – Jarnkrok
Rielly – Carlo
McCabe – Tanev
Benoit – Ekman-Larsson
Woll
Stolarz
Colorado Avalanche Lineup:
Lehkonen – MacKinnon – Necas
Drouin – Nelson – Nichushkin
Kiviranta – Coyle – Colton
Kelly – Drury – O’Connor
Toews – Makar
Lindgren – Malinski
Girard – Johnson
Blackwood
Wedgewood
Only 28 seconds into the middle frame after a scoreless opening period, Auston Matthews found the back of the net in his third straight game to put Toronto ahead 1-0. Mitch Marner took a pass as he was along the right boards, receiving it from John Tavares, and skated over at the blue line, sending it up to Matthews, who was at the bottom of the right circle. Matthews’ shot deflected off Devon Toews’ stick at the top of the goal crease for his 27th goal of the season. Valeri Nichushkin knotted it up 1-1 with 17:12 on the clock in the second when he got the puck from Nathan MacKinnon on the power play after MacKinnon got control over the puck when Cale Makar’s pass to him was intercepted by Marner, who had been falling to the ice as he intercepted, and MacKinnon chased after it in the neutral zone before heading back into the Leafs’ zone. After some passing back and forth between Nichushskin, MacKinnon, and Makar, the puck ended up getting back to Nichushkin, who shot past Joseph Woll’s glove in the slot.
Steven Lorentz untied the knot 2-1 early into the third period at 17:07 when he collected the puck in the neutral zone after Simon Benoit’s clearing attempt hit an official while killing a penalty. Skating into the zone, and from the left face-off dot, Lorentz shot over Mackenzie Blackwood’s glove for his sixth goal of the season. With 11:42 on the clock in the third, Joseph Woll made sure to keep it at 2-1 when he made a glove save on a shot from the slot by Brock Nelson.
Joseph Woll on his game, his save on Nelson, the nine straight shots he took, and what the Maple Leafs showed: “I think it was solid all the way through. I preach it all the time to just stick to my process, and I thought it was a great team win for us. We did a great job of locking down after we scored that go-ahead goal. They’re a good team over there. That’s a big win for us. …The D did a good job showing me that was my guy, there’s a 3-on-2, and they’re pretty spread like that, so he had options. I just tried to play him one-on-one as best I could. The D had saved me plenty of times,” – “It’s big for us to not give up a goal there. I think that could be a big momentum shift giving a goal up at the end of the period. I think we did a good job of kind of controlling their rush there. …I think patience. It’s a tight game, we stuck to our systems like we preach, got a go-ahead goal, and then we just continued to play our game.”
Auston Matthews on how they got it done, matching up against MacKinnon, and Lorentz’s goal: “I think it was just a gritty win. Joe was great for us tonight… I thought we did a good job of, you know when we needed to defend and check hard. …He’s always a tough guy to go up against. He brings so much speed and power. Everything he does is 100 miles an hour, so he’s a tough guy to match up against. Just try to stay up on him as much as possible and keep them to the outside, but obviously, he’s too good of a player to not get his looks at times. Just be on the right side of him, check him hard, and just be aware of when he’s on the ice at all times,” – “Pretty good shot, I’d say. A nice little break for us there. Pretty tough angle there, but he got that off pretty good.”
Game Notes:
– Auston Matthews has scored four goals in three games straight. …He scored his 142-career go-ahead goal, passing Mats Sundin (141) for the most in Maple Leafs history.
– The Maple Leafs secured their 16th victory decided by a single goal this season, a trend that has proven advantageous in 2024-25, positioning them close to the Atlantic Division’s leading position.
– Jonathan Drouin skated in his 600th NHL career game.
– Mackenzie Blackwood made a total of 24 saves for Colorado.
– In the second period, the Avalanche outshot the Maple Leafs 15-0 and had the final nine of the frame.
– TOR: 41-24-3, CO: 41-25-3
ITR 46: Offseason Chaos – Inside The Rink
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