The Colorado Avalanche were unable to come away with a victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, losing 2-1 in Canada. Though the final outcome is not what Avalanche fans wanted, it’s hard to be upset with the team’s efforts. They had nearly 40 shots on goal while surrendering just 26 to Toronto.
That is typically a good recipe for success. However, it was the misfortunate of a couple of fluky plays that doomed Colorado in their efforts to score more than a single goal against Joseph Woll.
On the first goal against, what looked to be an intended pass in front of Mackenzie Blackwood ended up deflecting off of Devon Toews’ stick, effectively giving Toronto a lucky bounce. Those are typically some of the toughest pucks to stop if you’re a goaltender. It’s hard to determine where the puck is going to end up. Think of it as a “bang-bang” play. The game happens just so fast and it’s hard to make a successful play out of certain situations.
On the other goal against Colorado, which was just another unfortunate situation, the referee slides to the ice to try to avoid being hit by the puck, but it ends up being deflected off of him into the stick of another Maple Leaf player. The rough thing about that sort of play is that it ends up ruining one or the other teams’ flow. This time, it ruined Colorado’s.
That play ended up being a 2-on-1 in favour of Toronto.
Overall, I liked a lot of the Avalanche’s game in Toronto. Like I have mentioned in the past—coincidentally after the first game vs Toronto—this Avalanche team is physical. I think that this aspect of their game is going to come in huge in the playoffs.
The Avalanche have played three games this season where they have recorded exactly 39 shots, including Wednesday night. They are now officially 2-1 in those games, with the two wins coming against the Anaheim Ducks (4-3) and Buffalo Sabres (5-4).
At the end of the day, what can you do? The Avalanche just need to keep looking forward. They have 13 games remaining in the 2024-25 regular season, and sit in third place, four points behind the Dallas Stars for second in the central division. The playoff race is on and every point counts.
Colorado beat the Leafs 7-4 about a week and a half ago.
Their next game is against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday in Quebec. Colorado is now 3-2 in their last five games. They know that they have to put up points no matter the circumstances. They didn’t play bad by any means on Wednesday, but just couldn’t get enough pucks in the net. Sometimes, it is just that simple.