TORONTO, ON — For the first time in nine games, the Colorado Avalanche fell in regulation. The Toronto Maple Leafs accomplished the feat Wednesday night in a 2-1 win over the Avs.

It also ended what was a nine-game point streak for the visitors. Colorado still remains hot, but have to put this one behind them immediately and move on despite the circumstances.

First Period

Colorado came out flying, recording six shots in the first five minutes. They ended up being the far better team of the two through the duration of the period.

Joseph Woll made some key saves, but the Avs also didn’t do the best at challenging him and hitting the net. At the other end, Mackenzie Blackwood faced a couple of nice chances from William Nylander which he was able to turn aside.

A pair of matching penalties by Artturi Lehkonen and Matthew Knies would interrupt play midway through but lead to nothing for either side. Meanwhile, Jack Drury took a high-sticking call in the final minute which carried over to the second for the home team.

Second Period

The Drury penalty would hurt the Avs. For the first time all night, a flurry of shots and chances from Toronto would be converted. Auston Matthews got credit for the goal as he threw it off of Devon Toews’ stick and over Blackwood.

Colorado would get it right back on their own power play. With Brandon Carlo off for tripping Martin Necas, Valeri Nichushkin in the bumper spot finished off a nice dish from Nathan MacKinnon. Just like that, it was evened up at one apiece.

Logan O’Connor missed a chance moments later when he fanned on his shot on a fast break. The Leafs missed chances at the other end as both Matthews and Jake McCabe found the iron.

Colorado did have several other looks at Woll. He fought off a couple of goal-mouth scrambles including one in the final minute. Hence, it was all to play for with 20 minutes to go.

Third Period

Once again Colorado came out looking for the go-ahead goal. But once again they couldn’t get a goal-mouth scramble behind Woll. It would come back to bite them in perhaps the flukiest way ever.

On an Avalanche power play with Toronto called for too many men, a clearance couldn’t have worked out better. The Leafs threw it down the ice, while referee Kelly Sutherland fell and blocked the puck at the same time. The fall stopped the puck dead in its tracks. This gave a perfectly set-up 2-on-1 for Steven Lorentz who finished the job.

Both teams continued to have great looks though. Brock Nelson, still searching for his first goal in burgundy and blue, was robbed by the glove of Woll. At the other end, Knies and Matthews both had Grade-A chances denied by Blackwood.

Despite Colorado being the better of the two teams throughout the game and outshooting the Leafs 39-26, they had to pull the netminder to look for the equalizer. Nothing could be mustered up, and it would be a disappointing 2-1 loss.

Observations from the Mountaintop

Colorado started the game hot and really outplayed the Leafs for most of the night on paper. But they found life difficult when it came to scoring and getting said chances. The shot total says 39-26 in favor of the visitors, but many of them were not great chances. The Avs had several goal-mouth scrambles, but no super memorable chances which impacted the affair.

Credit to Toronto and the Avalanche for playing well-structured games. At 5-on-5, the two were dead even. All three goals scored came on special teams. Granted the Leafs’ second goal was an anomaly shorthanded, but the point still stands. The Avs still have some work to do on the penalty kill at only 14th-best in the league and take all their chances on the man advantage.

Tonight was game 69 of the season for the Avalanche, and game 70 is right around the corner. With only 13 games to go, standings watch becomes more crucial than ever. As of the publishing of this article, the Minnesota Wild (83 points) are playing host to the Seattle Kraken and have the chance to jump within two points of the Avs (85 points). Meanwhile, Colorado loses the opportunity to gain ground on the Dallas Stars (89 points) and sit four points behind them. The Avalanche are known to be good on the second legs of back-to-backs, so they’ll look to get the points back on Thursday.

Next Game

Colorado is right back at it tomorrow night against the Ottawa Senators. Puck drop is at 5:00 p.m. MT.