Maple Leafs have new coach, same old pattern

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Your old head coach is gone, the new one is in place and all is right with the world. right?

No. And that’s an emphatic no.

On Wednesday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Colorado Avalanche and without much ceremony lost, 3-1.

None of the Maple Leafs stars showed up on the scoresheet.

Philipp Grubauer made 38 saves to get the win.

“Absolutely really good,” Grubauer said. “That was one of the most complete games we’ve played so far from a 60-minute effort [standpoint]. We knew they were going to come out [strong], they’ve got some really skilled guys there, but we protected the middle of the ice and didn’t give them too many chances. They still got some decent chances, but the guys in front of me made it really easy for me today to see all the shots.”

Zach Hyman had the lone Toronto goal.

“I liked that our guys competed,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. ” I thought we stayed in the game all the way through it. At times when they had their push, I thought we withstood it fine and then had pushes of our own. All in all, I liked the fight in our team. We just have to find ways to generate more offense.”

Nathan MacKinnon,Valeri Nichushkin and Joonas Donskoi had the Avs strikes.

“He’s (Nichushkin) been really good on the penalty kill using his size (6-foot-4, 210 pounds), strength and length, and knows where to be,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “He’s a good, responsible defensive player, and now he’s starting to chip in after a long drought.”

The Maple Leafs are 1-3-0 in their last four games.

[WATCH: All Avalanche vs. Maple Leafs highlights]

Frederik Andersen made 27 saves in the loss.

“The way the guys got called out after last game, I figured I wanted to be out there battling with them. That’s why I asked to play,” Andersen said. “I think we responded well. We played well; they just found a way to get the win on special teams. It’s a good team, and I thought we played well, especially 5-on-5. Obviously you’re going try to get some rest to get up for the second game. I felt pretty good and [it’s] just unfortunate I couldn’t get the win.”