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Monday game preview: Colorado Avalanche at Toronto Maple Leafs
Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has played his way into the Hart Trophy conversation.
Monday game preview: Colorado Avalanche at Toronto Maple Leafs | Toronto Star
Former Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier has won eight straight games for the Avalanche. (David Zalubowski / The Associated Press)
By Kevin McGranSports Reporter
Sun., Jan. 21, 2018
AIR CANADA CENTRE
PUCK DROP: Monday, 7 p.m.
TV: Sportsnet Ontario
RADIO: TSN 1050
KEY PLAYERS
MacKinnon/Gardiner
Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon is on a nine-game points streak, the longest current streak in the NHL. He has 18 multipoint games this season, and seven game-winning goals. MacKinnon was second in overall scoring heading into Sunday with 59 points, and is emerging as a serious candidate for the Hart Trophy as the league MVP . . . Jake Gardiner, who had three assists Saturday and four points in two games, is taking on a larger role on the top defensive pairing with Ron Hainsey.
NEED TO KNOW
Former Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier has an eight-game win streak, the longest by an Avalanche goaltender since Patrick Roy won 11 in a row from Jan. 12 to Feb. 7, 1999 . . . Colorado’s nine-game winning streak is the second-longest in club history, tying the Stanley Cup-winning team of 2000-01. The current Avs have never trailed during this streak . . . The Avalanche are 8-9-2 on the road . . . Colorado’s power play is ninth in the league at 20.9 per cent, its penalty kill second at 84.7 per cent. The Avs have spent more time with a man advantage (293:02) than any other team.
UP NEXT
Wednesday, at Chicago, 8 p.m.
NHL
Colorado Avalanche vs. Toronto Maple Leafs,
1-22-2018 - Pick and Prediction
Jan 22 Written by David Hess
Colorado Avalanche vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 1-22-2018 - Pick and Prediction
#1 Colorado
Avalanche
#2 Toronto
Maple Leafs
Monday, January 22, 2018 at 7:05pm
Image licensed from USA Today Sports
National Hockey League action on Monday evening and the Central Division will hookup with the Atlantic Division as the Colorado Avalanche battle it out with the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. The Avs come in off a 3-1 home win over the Rangers, while the Leafs are off a 4-3 road win over the Senator. Goalie Probables: The Avalanche will be sending out Jonathan Bernier and he will be opposed by Frederik Andersen.
Lines: Toronto -167/ Colorado +151
Total: 6
Avs Push Win Streak To Nine With Win Over Rangers
The Colorado Avalanche had just 22 wins last years, but they have already surpassed that this year as they now have 26 wins on the season after beating the Rangers on Saturday by a score of 3-1. It was their 9th win in a row and it kept them in the 8th spot in the Western Conference playoff standings. The Golden Knights are the biggest surprise in the league this year and the Avs are the 2nd biggest so far, especially after posting the worst record in the league last year. Scoring in the win was Erik Johnson, which was his 7th of the year, Nathan MacKinnon, which was his 6th in his last six games and 23rd of the year and Mikko Rantanen, which was his 7th in his last 10 games and 17th of the year. The Avs have gone 8-11 on the road and have averaged 2.84 GAA and have allowed 3.32 GAA in those games.
Grabbing the win against the Rangers was Jonathan Bernier, who stopped 27 of the 28 shots that he faced in the game to improve to 13-8 with a 2.61 GAA and a .919 save percentage on the year, while on the road he has gone 3-4 with a 2.97 GAA and a .907 save percentage. He has now won his last eight starts in a row and has allowed a total of 11 goals over that stretch. In his career, he has gone 45-75 with a 2.57 GAA on the road and 25-38 with a 2.79 GAA against the Atlantic Division, while against the Maple Leafs he has gone 1-0 with a 2.02 GAA.
Colorado has been solid on offense so far as they come in ranked 4th in the league in scoring at 3.31 gpg, while also ranking 26th in shots taken (30.0 spg) and 8th in power play conversions, converting on 20.9% of their chances. At the defensive end of the ice, have been a bit below average so far as they come in ranked 18th in goals allowed, giving up 2.87 gpg, while also ranking 22nd in shots allowed (32.4 spg) and 2nd in penalty kill, allowing teams to convert on 15.3% of their chances.
Leafs Top Sens To End Skid
The Toronto Maple Leafs have not really been playing all that well of late as they have lost seven of their last 10 games, but they do come in off a 4-3 road win over the Senators and they are hoping that gets them back on track. The offense has been a struggle for them and the four goals they scored against the Sens was the most they have put up in their last 10 games. Jonathan Bernier has allowed just 11 goals in his last eight games, so their offense could be in for a struggle in this one. Scoring in the win over the Sens was Zach Hyman, which was his 8th of the year, Auston Matthews, which was his 20th, Mitchell Marner, which was his 6th and Connor Carrick, which was his 3rd. The Maple Leafs have gone 13-9 here at home for the year so far and they have averaged 2.86 gpg and have allowed 2.77 gpg in those games.
Grabbing the win against the Senators was Frederik Andersen, who stopped 15 of the 18 shots that he faced to improve to 23-17 with a 2.68 GAA and a .920 save percentage on the year, while here at home he has gone 11-8 with a 2.69 GAA and a .921 save percentage. In his career, he has gone 67-40 with a 2.41 GAA in his home games and 26-19 with a 2.66 GAA against the Central Division, while against the Avs he has gone 2-1 with a 1.33 GAA.
Toronto has been very good on offense so far as they come in ranked 7th in the league in scoring at 3.18 gpg, while also ranking 19th in shots taken (31.3 spg) and 10th in power play conversions, converting on 20.9% of their chances. At the defensive end of the ice, they have been a bit below average so far as they come in ranked 19th in goals allowed, giving up 2.88 gpg, while also ranking 29th in shots allowed (33.8 spg) and 5th in penalty kill, allowing teams to convert on 16.2% of their chances.
Trends
Colorado is:
- 16-35 in their last 51 road games vs. a team with a winning home record
- 14-41 in their last 55 road games
- None Available
Game Day: Avalanche at Maple Leafs
Lance HornbyMore from Lance Hornby
Game Day: Avalanche at Maple Leafs
Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche. (MATTHEW STOCKMAN/Getty Images)
COLORADO AVALANCHE at TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Monday, 7 p.m., Air Canada Centre
TV: Sportsnet Ontario; RADIO: TSN 1050
THE BIG MATCHUP
C Nathan MacKinnon vs. C Auston Matthews
The take-charge MacKinnon is the engine driving Colorado’s nine-game winning streak and dramatic turnaround in the standings. A goal and an assist Saturday against the Rangers kept him second in NHL scoring. Matthews also had two points on Saturday, reaching the 20-goal mark.
FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME
Bern-ing desire
Ex-Leaf Jonathan Bernier faded to obscurity last season in Anaheim, but is getting his share of credit in Denver with a record of 13-7-1 and seven straight personal wins. A duel with replacement Frederik Andersen is another intriguing aspect of this tilt as the Avalanche attempts to extend the second-longest streak in club history.
Short stuff
Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock promised to fix issues with short-handed chances against his team, but the NHL’s second-best penalty killers will make that task harder.
Rested Buds
The teams last met Dec. 29 when Toronto was coming off its last back-to-back, with Curtis McElhinney in for a 4-3 overtime loss.
Close counts
Despite dropping four one-goal results before Saturday, the Leafs still have won 14 by a puck, twice as many as the Avs.
No give
Even if the stats are a little off depending on the rink, the Avs’ league-low 274 giveaways is quite impressive when you see the high-risk Leafs have been charged with 550 so far.
AVALANCHE GAME DAY LINES
LW C RW
Gabriel Landeskog Nathan MacKinnon Mikko Rantanen
Matthew Nieto Carl Soderberg Blake Comeau
Gabriel Bourque Tyson Jost J.T. Compher
Dominic Toninato Alexander Kerfoot Nail Yakupov
DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Nikita Zadorov Erik Johnson
Patrik Nemeth Mark Barberio
Samuel Girard Anton Lindholm
GOALIES
Jonathan Bernier
Andrew Hammond
SICK BAY
G Semyon Varlamov
D Tyson Barrie
F Sven Andrighetto
F Tyson Jost
F Vladislav Kamenev
LEAFS GAME DAY LINES
LW C RW
Zach Hyman Auston Matthews William Nylander
Patrick Marleau Nazem Kadri Leo Komarov
James van Riemsdyk Tyler Bozak Connor Brown
Matt Martin Frederik Gauthier Mitch Marner
DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Jake Gardiner Ron Hainsey
Travis Dermott Connor Carrick
Andreas Borgman Roman Polak
GOALIES
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
SICK BAY
D Morgan Rielly
D Nikita Zaitsev
F Nikita Soshnikov
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play
Toronto 20.9% (T-9)
Colorado 20.9% (T-9)
Penalty killing
Toronto 83.8% (5th)
Colorado 84.7% (2nd)
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