In Denver, the Toronto Maple Leafs let one get away on Saturday.
The Leafs grabbed a 3-0 lead in the opening frame and then let the Avalanche rally for a 5-4 win in extra time.
Devon Toews scored 72 seconds into the extra session for the game-winner.
“They had one or two bodies who were a little tired,” Toews said. “We were trying to keep possession with the guys we had on the ice. They cheated a little bit, and I was able to jump down.”
Toronto had tow three-goal leads in the game, including 4-1 in the middle frame.
“We’re a resilient group in there,” Toews said. “We were still a little shaky, and [Francouz] made some big saves for us and kind of gave us a little bit of time to get our feet going and find our work ethic.”
Darcy Kuemper got the start for the Avs and was given the hook with just over five minutes left in the opening frame. He made five saves and surrendered three goals.
Pavel Francouz made 18 saves for the win..
“We just needed to change something,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “I don’t put that on Kuemper at all. I’d love to see him come up with one of those, but he just wasn’t finding it. I was just trying to send a message to our group. It just shows what our team is capable of if we work like that at both ends.”
Auston Matthews scored twice, and Alexander Kerfoot added a single marker for Toronto.
“I take nothing but positives out of this game tonight,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “All things considered, this team we were playing tonight, they’re rolling. It’s a tough building to play in. It’s probably the loudest building we played in all year. So you come out of playing in front of no fans (in Toronto) to something like this, the response to start the game I thought was outstanding.
“Would we like to get two points? Absolutely. Should we have had two points? Absolutely, but that’s a very good team and to come in here and get a point is huge for this group.”
The Maple Leafs dropped to 22-8-3.
Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar picked up a goal each in the Avs win.
Nick Ritchie also scored for the Maple Leafs.
The Avs improved to 21-8-2.
“It’s something teams usually do to get the team going,” Francouz said. “We started playing well in the second period. To me, it was just a matter of time before we started scoring. I was just trying to enjoy every minute on the ice, especially in a game like this when it’s possibly the two most talented teams in the League.”
Nathan MacKinnon got the Avs on the board in the first period, and J.T. Compher forced the extra session with his tying goal in the third .
Jack Campbell made 44 saves in the Leafs loss.
“It is tough coming in here after playing in front of no fans,” Kerfoot said. “The energy was high. The crowd was into it when they started pushing it in the third. It was a lot of fun to be out there. I thought our start was good. The game flow kind of turned in their favor. They gave it to us pretty good there in the latter half of the game.”
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