Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller kept his goalie choice close to the vest, refusing to divulge in his pre-game scrum which way he was tilting.
asserted
he → keep → scrum
The joust went to Sergei Bobrovsky over Anthony Stolarz, making his first consecutive start of the season on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche.
asserted
joust → go → Avalanche
The Avalanche outshot the Leafs 33-21 but “Bob” was the difference as the visitors dusted off the home-side 6-3 at Bell Arena.
asserted
visitors → outshoot → Arena
It was Toronto’s third win and Bobrovsky’s first, aided by a five-point night from William Nylander and a two-goal third period from Auston Matthews, his empty-netter with 39 seconds left utterly deflating the crowd, although their team had flatlined long before.
asserted
team → aid → crowd
“It’s always tough here,” Matthews said.
asserted
Matthews → ’ → ?
“We got off to a good start.
asserted
We → get → start
You’ve got to weather the storm against these guys throughout the game because they’re a really good team …
asserted
they → get → game
Sometimes you’ve just got to weather the storm, bend don’t break.
asserted
you → get → storm
“Bob came up with some huge saves.”
asserted
Bob → come → saves
“We haven’t been good enough in front of him in his first couple of starts,” Matthews said.
asserted
Matthews → say → starts
“He’s had to come up big and hasn’t gotten rewarded for it.
asserted
He → have → it
The Leafs’ power play connected for a pair of goals, including one from Nylander.
asserted
play → connect → Nylander
The puck was consistently on his stick as if magnetically drawn.
asserted
puck → draw → stick
The Leafs pounced first and fast at 3:03 of the first period, right after killing off a tripping penalty to Kirill Marchenko.
asserted
Leafs → pounce → Marchenko
Toronto began the night with the second-best penalty-killing in the NHL, second only to the Avalanche, 10-for-10.
asserted
Toronto → begin → Avalanche
In a game where Hiller had to go with seven defencemen — before losing Chris Tanev to an upper-body injury in the first period — Nick Blankenburg made his debut with the Leafs, although primarily as a fourth line forward.
asserted
Blankenburg → have → forward
Blankenburg was acquired by Colorado from Nashville last season to add some depth to the blue line.
asserted
Blankenburg → acquire → line
He played about 15 minutes on an expiring contract, then signed with Toronto on Sept. 27.
asserted
He → play → Sept.
He was the last player you might expect to see on the scoresheet but he was the first player to get there in this tea-time encounter, parked in the low slot to accept a slick pass from Nylander at the half-board and put a wrister over the glove of Mackenzie Blackwood.
uncertain
he → expect → Blackwood
The Avalanche, however, are an offensive powerhouse, spinning around the twin glittering orbs that are Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
asserted
that → spin → orbs
MacKinnon has devoured the Leafs historically.
asserted
MacKinnon → devour → Leafs
His 29th career point against Toronto arrived at 10:46 of the first period when he skated through four Leafs stacked across the blue line, cut wide and back inside on Morgan Rielly, and slid the puck between Bobrovsky’s pads.
asserted
he → arrive → pads
It was MacKinnon again, with his 10th point and fourth goal of the young season, at 15:14, after a relentless forecheck on Darren Raddysh behind the net loosened the puck and MacKinnon got his blade on a shot through a thicket of sticks.
asserted
MacKinnon → loosen → sticks
Nylander drew Toronto level at 6:53 of the second, the first power-play goal given up by Colorado this season.
asserted
Nylander → draw → Colorado
The Avalanche responded when Brock Nelson scored on his second chance amidst net-front chaos.
asserted
Nelson → respond → chaos
But Nylander, with his fifth, knotted the score 3-3 and, less than a minute later, unstoppable soph Easton Cowan gave Toronto the lead for a second time on a one-timer celebrated with a fist-pump.
asserted
Cowan → knot → pump
The Leafs had scored three goals on four shots.
asserted
Leafs → score → shots
The Aporia
