William Nylander totals five points as Maple Leafs beat Colorado 6-3 at Ball Arena

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

DENVER — William Nylander produced a five-point night with two goals and three assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs cooled off the Colorado Avalanche with a 6-3 victory at Ball Arena on Saturday. The five-point total matched a career high for Nylander, who helped Toronto improve to 3-2-1 and secure its first road win of the season.

Toronto’s scoring also came from Auston Matthews, who recorded two goals and two assists, plus Nick Blankenburg in his Toronto debut. Nick Paul added two assists. In goal, Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves to earn his first win of the season for the Maple Leafs.

Colorado responded through Nathan MacKinnon, who scored twice, and Brock Nelson, who added a goal. The Avalanche fell to 3-2-0, having lost two of three, while Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 16 shots in the loss.

Blankenburg gave Toronto an early lead at 3:03 of the first period after activating from the point down to the left circle. He caught a crossing pass from Nylander at the left wall and fired a wrist shot short side over the glove to make it 1-0.

MacKinnon leveled the game at 1-1 at 10:46 of the first, firing a wrist shot from in close on the left that went five-hole. The play began with MacKinnon entering the zone with speed, cutting outside and around Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly before driving the net from the right circle.

Colorado took a 2-1 lead at 15:14 of the first when MacKinnon scored again. He released a wrister from above the center hashes that went off Bobrovsky’s glove, with Martin Necas screening the Maple Leafs goaltender during the shot.

In the second period, Nylander tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play goal at 6:53. He received a crossing pass from Gavin McKenna off the left post, walked in, then moved the puck backhand to forehand and scored around Blackwood into the open net.

Nelson put Colorado back in front at 12:25 of the second, breaking the tie at 3-2 with a snap of his own rebound short side over Bobrovsky’s right shoulder.

Nylander restored parity again at 16:47, scoring to make it 3-3. His wrist shot from above the right inside hash went far side past the blocker, with Paul involved in the sequence by chopping down Brett Kulak’s clearing attempt at the blue line and feeding Matthews at the bottom of the right circle before Matthews connected with Nylander for the shot.

Easton Cowan gave Toronto a 4-3 edge at 17:33 of the second period. He scored on a one-timer from under the right dot that beat Blackwood inside the right post, with Rielly sending the puck down to Cowan from above the left circle.

Toronto extended its lead further in the third. Matthews scored a power-play goal at 12:02 to make it 5-3, firing from the right circle hashes for a short-side finish past Blackwood’s glove. Nylander set up the score by sending a backhand pass from below the left circle to Matthews.

Matthews added the final margin with an empty-net goal at 19:21 to complete the 6-3 result.

There was also a noted injury development early in the game. Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev left the contest at 11:08 of the first period with an upper-body injury. The NHL.com recap did not provide further details on the severity or return timeline.

With the win, Toronto ended a road win drought and moved to 3-2-1, while Colorado, which had lost two of its past three entering the match, dropped to 3-2-0 despite two goals from MacKinnon and a goal from Nelson.