In Toronto, the visiting Colorado Avalanche picked off a 2-1 win over the Maple Leafs on penalties on Wednesday night. 
Nathan MacKinnon had an assist in regulation was the lone striker in the skills portion of the evening’s affairs.
“He’s a world-class player,” Colorado goalie Alexandar Georgiev said. “I’m not really a forward, but he is awesome. He’s a top player in the world, and we need that kind of play from him.”
In the extra session, the Maple Leafs were outshot, 4-0.
“It’s just commitment and hard work and paying attention to the details,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “When we play with that type of commitment and dedication to the checking side of things, we’re pretty good at it.
“I feel like some nights we are as good as we want to be, and it seems like recently we’ve wanted to win these hockey games. We know they’re important. Winning the division isn’t the be-all, end-all, but certainly to have short-term goals like that and chase down the teams in front of us, it’s part of playing with a little pressure, even if it is self-induced.”
Georgiev made 18 saves in the Colorado win.
“I liked the way our guys played,” Bednar said. “You come out on the road and you’re able to find a way to win two games in a row at the start of the (four-game) road trip (an 8-4 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday), and mostly due to the defensive effort both nights. We’ll take it all day long.”
The Avalanche improved to 38-22-6 off their third straight win.
Morgan Rielly staked the Maple Leafs to a 1-0 lead at 3:41 in the first period.
Toronto dropped to 40-18-9.
“Tight game, honestly,” Toronto forward Auston Matthews said. “Two good teams, not a lot of space, you saw with the shot count (29-18 Colorado). Two good teams, fast teams and not a lot of high event stuff going on.”
Mikko Rantanen tied the game at 14:03 of the first on the power play.
“We talked about it as a team, just playing hard defensively,” Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram said. “When we went through that stretch where we lost a few games in a row (three straight from March 1-5), we weren’t too happy with what we were doing on the defensive side of the puck, so we’ve just been trying to key in on it lately.
“They’re a really good rush team, so [it’s] just our defense having tight gaps, pinching down the walls if we can. Our forwards did a great job of tracking back over top of the puck and forechecking as well. Those are keys every night, but when you are playing some of the best players in the world, you have to make sure those details are on.”
Rantanen’s goal was off a carom off Toronto’s Jake McCabe in the slot.
Ilya Samsonov made 28 saves in the Toronto loss.
“I thought he was locked in,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I don’t think we gave up a ton in terms of high-quality chances, a lot of stuff coming from the points and the perimeter, but anything we did give up in the slot or whatever it might have been, he was set. He looked really athletic and dynamic with some of the saves he made with his hands. I thought he was excellent.”
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