Injuries to core players are a blow to most teams, but the Colorado Avalanche have kept rolling without three main guys. Colorado has won 17 straight home games, including the first two on its seven-game homestand, heading into Monday’s clash with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
The Avalanche played the last two games without captain Gabriel Landeskog and top-line defenseman Devon Toews, both out with upper-body injuries, and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (lower body), but showed no ill effects. They bounced back from their first two-game regulation losing streak of the season with decisive wins over Ottawa (8-2) and Columbus (4-0).
Colorado boasts the NHL’s co-leader in scoring in Nathan MacKinnon, whose 78 points (36 goals, 42 assists) are tied with Connor McDavid, but it didn’t need MacKinnon’s scoring in Saturday’s win over the Blue Jackets. Instead, defenseman Ilya Solovyov scored his first career goal and goaltender Trent Miner blanked Columbus for his first career win.
That kept the Avalanche unbeaten in regulation on home ice (19-0-2) and they can tie the longest home winning streak in franchise history Monday night.
“I don’t think we really talk or think too much about that stuff,” said Colorado defenseman Brent Burns, who had two goals Saturday. “I’ve said it before, but every night it’s kind of different guys. Obviously, (Miner) played so good and we’ve been blessed with great goaltending all year. To see (Solovyov) get his first one too, it’s great. It’s different guys coming through and I think it was a pretty good team win.”
Toronto is the latest team with a chance to end the streak — and the Maple Leafs arrive in Denver on a nice streak of their own. The Maple Leafs have won three straight and seven of their last nine, with the two losses coming in overtime. They head on this four-game road trip following a 5-0 win over Vancouver on Saturday.
Leading scorer William Nylander had a goal and two assists after missing six games with a lower-body injury. Nylander has 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) with John Taveras (16 goals, 24 assists) and Matthew Knies (12 goals, 26 assists) next on the Maple Leafs’ scoring list. Auston Matthews leads the team with 21 goals.
“It’s not fun sitting out and watching, but the team was playing great, so it was fun watching them play great, which made it good,” Nylander said after the win over the Canucks. “We’ve just taken it to another level. Everyone has been more connected and I think that’s a big factor too.”
The Maple Leafs have leveraged their recent streak to move into contention in the competitive Eastern Conference. Toronto is one point behind the last wild card spot, but has played one fewer game than Washington. The Leafs trail Detroit by seven points in the Atlantic Division, but hold two games in hand on the Red Wings.
Monday night will be the toughest game of the Leafs’ road trip and the first of two games against Colorado in 14 days. The Maple Leafs host the Avalanche on Jan. 25.
–Field Level Media
