Avalanche's Defensive Details Shine in 2-1 Shootout Win Over Leafs

The Colorado Avalanche edged the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in a hard-fought shootout victory on Wednesday evening at Scotiabank Arena as the Avalanche continued a four-game road trip (2-0-0). Colorado is now 38-22-6 for their season record and rank third in the Central Division standings.

For the Avalanche, Nathan MacKinnon scored the shootout winner, while Mikko Rantanen scored on the power play in regulation. Alex Galchenyuk joined the lineup for the first time since Dec. 5. In net, Alexandar Georgiev turned aside 17 of the 18 shots he faced.
For the Maple Leafs, Morgan Reilly scored in regulation. Ilya Samsonov made 28 saves on 29 shots.

GAME SUMMARY:

Colorado continued its recent success as they team executed a committed defensive clinic against Toronto's dynamic and high-octane offense. The Avalanche rose to the challenge of facing one of the top teams in the league (Leafs are currently ranked fifth overall) and secured the two-point win as they were diligent with their defensive details and flexed their own elite skill. The team also did so in the wake of yet another injury as they were without Artturi Lehkonen, who returned to Denver on Tuesday to undergo surgery on a broken finger that the winger sustained on Monday night in Montreal.
The Avalanche and Maple Leafs got off to a fairly even first period as they score was tied 1-1, and the Avalanche held the edge in special teams going 1-for-1 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill in that frame and outshooting Toronto 11-7.
The Leafs drew the game's opening strike at 3:41 on what was the team's first shot of the game. Reilly - who had a shot in the opening seconds of the game ring off the crossbar - collected a pass from Marner in the left faceoff circle, took his space and sniped a look under Georgiev's glove side elbow to give Toronto a 1-0 lead.

At 12:39, the Avalanche received their first power play of the game and capitalized to tie the score up 1-1 as they scored their fifth-straight goal on the man advantage. Cale Makar snapped the puck to Rantanen inside of the right faceoff circle. The Finnish winger looked to send a one-timer pass to Valeri Nichushkin for an easy tap-in, but the puck instead hit off Toronto's Jake McCabe and slipped through Samsonov's pads.
Neither team found the back of the net in the second period despite both teams receiving two power plays each. Colorado held the Leafs' high-octane offense to just four shots in the middle frame, while the Avalanche put up 10.
The third period featured tight-checking and end-to-end action as both teams sought to attain a difference maker, but neither team was able to and the game was sent to overtime.
In the extra period, both teams generated some dynamic looks but the Avalanche held the Leafs without a shot, meanwhile Colorado produced two quality looks in overtime that Samsonov denied.
During the shootout, Rodrigues was stopped as Samsonov made a pad save and Georgiev denied Auston Matthews with a toe save. The two clutch plays to secure the shootout win occurred as MacKinnon netted the lone shootout goal as he squeezed his shot under Samsonov's right arm and Georgiev followed it up by poke checking the puck away from Mitchell Marner.

NOTEWORTHY:

• MacKinnon scored his second shootout goal of the season. While the shootout goal doesn't count towards the centerman's season total, he entered the game riding a five-game goal streak.
• Rantanen recorded his 44th goal of the season. The Finnish winger now has goals in back-to-back games and extended his point streak to five games where he's compiled seven points (3G, 4A) in that span.
• Galchenyuk joined the lineup for the first time since Dec. 5. as Artturi Lehkonen was injured on Monday night in Montreal and returned to Denver for surgery on his broken finger. The winger skated alongside Matt Nieto and Alex Galchenyuk.
• Denis Malgin returned to Toronto for the first time since the Swiss forward was dealt to the Avalanche on Dec. 19. Malgin skated alongside J.T. Compher and Nichushkin.
• Georgiev made his 49th start of the season and improved his record to 30-14-5.
• Colorado finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
• Artturi Lehkonen (upper body), Kurtis MacDermid (lower body), Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Josh Manson (lower body) were scratches for the Avalanche.

NEXT GAME:

The Avalanche continue their four-game road trip in Ottawa on Thursday night. The puck drops between the Avs and Senators at 5:00 p.m. MT.