Saturday, November 23, 2019 07:00 PM (ET)

Leafs sink Avs to move to 2-0 under Keefe

Field Level Media
Nov 23, 2019

Auston Matthews and Tyson Barrie had a goal and an assist each, Nicholas Shore, Kasperi Kapanen and Zach Hyman also scored, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 in Denver on Saturday night.

Frederik Andersen stopped 34 shots to help new coach Sheldon Keefe improve to 2-0 since taking over for the fired Mike Babcock earlier in the week.

Nathan MacKinnon, Andre Burakovsky and Valeri Nichushkin scored goals, and Nazem Kadri had two assists against his former team. Pavel Francouz made 12 saves for Colorado in his return from a concussion. He relieved starter Philipp Grubauer, who allowed four goals on 15 shots.

Barrie and center Alexander Kerfoot were back in Denver for the first time since being traded to Toronto for Kadri in the offseason. Barrie got his second goal of the season and second in as many games during the Leafs' four-goal burst in a span of less than eight minutes the first period.

MacKinnon scored on a slapshot from the point just 31 seconds into the game, and then Toronto took over with a flurry of goals.

Shore got things started when he redirected Pierre Engvall's pass to the front of the net at 9:49. It was his second of the season.

Matthews then gave the Maple Leafs the lead with his 16th of the season when he beat Grubauer with a shot from the slot 1:07 after Shore's goal. Barrie made it 3-1 when he buried a pass from William Nylander at 13:22, and Kapanen finished the scoring with a breakaway goal at 17:36.

Francouz then entered for Grubauer.

Colorado got one back when Toronto defenseman Justin Holl went off for slashing in the second period. Burakovsky cashed with his 11th goal, a one-timer on a pass from Joonas Donskoi, at 9:21 of the period.

Nichushkin got his first goal in 92 games at 6:54 of the third to make it 4-3. It was the first time he scored since March 4, 2016, when he was with Dallas.

Francouz went off for an extra skater with 2:47 left, and Kadri hit the post on a tip, but the Avs could not crack Andersen. Hyman scored just before time expired.

--Field Level Media

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