Maple Leafs vs. Avalanche: William Nylander's Five-Point Night and 700th Point Sink Colorado

Nick Paul stopped a Colorado clearing attempt at the blue line, slid it to Auston Matthews at the bottom of the right circle, and Matthews found William Nylander above the hash marks. One wrist shot later, the puck was in the far side of the net, the game was tied 3-3, and Nylander had the 700th point of his NHL career. Forty-six seconds after that, Easton Cowan one-timed Toronto into the lead for good.

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-3 on Saturday night at Ball Arena, and Nylander was the whole show: two goals, three assists and five points, matching the best single-game total of his career. Matthews added two goals and two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky finally got a win to show for his work.

MacKinnon Sets the Tone, Then Toronto Flips the Script

The Leafs needed all of 3:03 to strike. Nick Blankenburg, making his Toronto debut after signing a one-year contract on Sept. 27, jumped down from the point to the left circle, took a crossing feed from Nylander and beat Mackenzie Blackwood short side over the glove.

"So to get one here in the first shift definitely felt nice," Blankenburg said, per the NHL's recap.

Then Nathan MacKinnon decided he had seen enough. At 10:46 he hit the Toronto blue line at full speed, wheeled around Morgan Rielly on the outside and tucked a shot five-hole from in tight. At 15:14 he let a wrister go from distance, and with Martin Necas parked in Bobrovsky's eyes, it caromed off the goalie's glove and in. Two goals in 4:28, his fourth and fifth of the season, and Colorado led 2-1 after one. Toronto also lost defenseman Chris Tanev at 11:08 of the first to an upper-body injury, according to the NHL's game notes.

The second period was chaos, and Toronto coach Jim Hiller admitted as much. "I liked the first and I liked the third," he said. The Leafs survived eight seconds of a Colorado 5-on-3 early in the frame, then cashed in on their own chance. Jaden Schwartz took a high-sticking minor at 6:34, and 19 seconds later Gavin McKenna threaded a pass across to Nylander at the left post. Nylander went backhand to forehand around Blackwood and tied it 2-2. Per the AP, it was the first power-play goal Colorado had allowed this season.

"Unbelievable pass on that first goal," Nylander said of McKenna.

Brock Nelson answered at 12:25 by burying his own rebound over Bobrovsky's shoulder, and the Avalanche were back up 3-2. They would not lead again.

The Turning Point: 46 Seconds That Broke Colorado

Nylander's tying goal at 16:47 is the one for the milestone reel, but Paul refusing to let Brett Kulak's clear escape the zone is what made it possible. At 17:33, Rielly slid the puck down from above the left circle and Cowan blasted a one-timer from under the right dot inside the post. That was Cowan's third of the season, and it put Toronto ahead 4-3.

Colorado's power play kept coming up empty in the third. Then MacKinnon tripped Matthews at 11:20, and 42 seconds later Nylander slipped a backhand pass from below the left circle to Matthews, who snapped a wrister short side past the glove for a 5-3 lead. Matthews added an empty-netter at 19:21, his fourth of the season.

Nylander, Matthews and Bob

Nylander finished with 2 goals, 3 assists and a plus-1 in 19:51. The five points match the career high he set against Calgary on Dec. 10, 2022, per the NHL. His two goals were Nos. 296 and 297 of his career, moving him past George Armstrong and Frank Mahovlich into seventh on the Maple Leafs' all-time goals list. He now has 702 points in 756 games and, per the NHL, became the seventh-fastest Sweden-born player in NHL history to hit 700.

"I was just going out there playing. I got some really nice passes to be able to score those two goals," Nylander said, with the energy of a guy who just shrugged at a five-point night.

Matthews had his own milestone footnote: his 84th multigoal game left him one behind Joe Mullen (85) for the third most in NHL history among U.S.-born players. He also won 13 of 21 faceoffs and blocked three shots, though his postgame spotlight went to his goalie.

Bobrovsky made 30 saves on 33 shots for his first win of the season. "We haven't been good enough in front of him in his first couple starts, and he's had to come up big and hasn't gotten rewarded for it," Matthews said.

And McKenna, with his assist on the first Nylander goal, became the first Maple Leafs player age 18 or younger to record a point in three straight games since Russ Courtnall in 1984, per the NHL.

For Colorado, MacKinnon was terrific in 23:56, but Blackwood stopped just 17 of 22 shots in what the AP called his first setback of the season.

Stats That Matter

• 2-for-4: Toronto's power play, with Nylander and Matthews each scoring on it.
• 0-for-5: Colorado's power play, including that brief 5-on-3.
• 33-23: Colorado's shot advantage. Toronto won anyway by making its looks count.
• 22-10: Toronto's edge in blocked shots.
• 5: Points for Nylander, tying his career high.

What It Means

Toronto moves to 3-2-1 and picks up its first road win of the season after a shootout loss at Vegas to open the trip. The AP noted the Leafs have alternated wins and losses all season, which is either a pattern or a coin flip, depending on your mood. They wrap the three-game trip at Utah on Tuesday.

Colorado falls to 3-2-0, losing for the first time in three home games and for the second time in three games overall. "I wasn't disappointed with the number of chances we gave up. I just did not like some of the chances," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "Like just mental mistakes, that's what it was." Captain Gabriel Landeskog was blunter: "Special teams just wasn't good enough tonight. Simple as that. We'll be better." The Avalanche visit Dallas on Tuesday.

Closing Take

MacKinnon spent the first period playing like the main character, and he still walked off with two goals. But Nylander spent the last 40 minutes like a guy who grabbed the aux cord at the party and refused to give it back. Five points, a 700-point milestone and a climb up the franchise goal list, all in one night in Denver. Some nights the playlist belongs to one guy.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and game notes as reported by NHL.com.