Nylander Leads Maple Leafs Past Avalanche in Denver

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Colorado Avalanche 6-3 at Ball Arena on Saturday, with William Nylander scoring twice and adding three assists to lead Toronto's first road win of the season. The result gave Colorado its second loss in three games.

According to NHL.com, Nylander's five-point performance tied his career high. Auston Matthews also produced four points with two goals and two assists as the Maple Leafs improved to 3-2-1.

NHL.com reported that Nick Blankenburg scored in his Toronto debut, Nick Paul collected two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves for his first win of the season. Toronto had alternated wins and losses to begin the campaign.

The Avalanche opened the scoring sequence with Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon scoring twice in the first period. NHL.com reported that MacKinnon's goals helped Colorado take a 2-1 advantage before Toronto responded.

Colorado's Brock Nelson scored off his own rebound to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead in the second period, according to NHL.com. The team later failed to convert five power-play opportunities, including a brief five-on-three advantage, as reported by TSN.

Nylander tied the game 3-3 in the second period before Easton Cowan scored 46 seconds later to put Toronto ahead. According to NHL.com, Cowan's goal came from a one-timer assisted by Morgan Rielly.

Matthews extended Toronto's lead with a third-period power-play goal and later completed the scoring with an empty-net goal. NHL.com reported Nylander assisted on Matthews' first third-period goal.

Colorado goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 16 shots in his first loss of the season, according to TSN. The Avalanche dropped to 3-2-0 after losing their first home game of the season.

NHL.com reported that Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev left the game at 11:08 of the first period because of an upper-body injury. The team was scheduled to finish its three-game trip at Utah on Tuesday night.

TSN reported that Avalanche forward Logan O'Connor was away from the team following the sudden passing of his father, former NHL defenseman Myles O'Connor. Colorado was scheduled to play at Dallas on Tuesday night.