Avalanche's 17-game home winning streak ends in OT loss to Toronto

Cale Makar thought it was in. So did Trent Miner from the opposite end of the ice, Jared Bednar from the bench and the sold-out Ball Arena crowd.

But Nathan MacKinnon’s slap shot 87 seconds into overtime hit off the inside of the post, giving Toronto new life. The Maple Leafs made the most of it, eventually using William Nylander’s winner through Miner’s five-hole in a 4-3 overtime defeat for Colorado on Monday at Ball Arena.

With that, the Avs’ Mile High Magic finally unraveled, snapping the team’s 17-game home winning streak. However, with a point picked up in the OT loss, Colorado extended its home point streak to 22 this year at 19-0-3, the longest home point streak in franchise history.

The last time the Avs lost in Denver was a 5-4 shootout defeat to Carolina on Oct. 23, and head coach Jared Bednar said an incomplete effort by his team led to the Maple Leafs’ victory on Monday.

“It was a back-and-forth, evenly played overtime, but they capitalized on their big chance we didn’t,” Bednar said. “… We don’t play our best against a team that’s playing their best, yet we get a point. Part of me believes we’re fortunate to get that point.”

Miner, getting consecutive starts in net for the first time in his NHL career with Scott Wedgewood banged up and MacKenzie Blackwood still on injured reserve, played decently following his shutout in a 4-0 win over Columbus on Saturday. The first two goals he gave up were a result of a teammate’s poorly placed skate, and on a breakaway. And then Nylander’s game-winner came on an odd-man rush.

“I think I had moments I had where I was good, and there were some moments I’ve like to have back, too,” Miner said.

The offense, meanwhile, came up just short of enough production to secure an 18th straight home win, which would’ve tied the 2021-22 championship team for the longest such streak in franchise history. MacKinnon had three points while Martin Necas and Makar both had two, but the Avs came up empty on a critical power play in the final minutes of the third and then couldn’t put the puck home on several good chances in the extra frame.

“I thought I heard the mesh of the top corner of the netting (on MacKinnon’s OT shot),” Makar said. “Luckily, I turned around and saw they were coming up the ice. We stopped (that one)… but we’ve got to find a way to not have odd-man rushes in overtime, because those are going to kill you.”

Just past the midway point of the opening period, Toronto got on the board first thanks to what was essentially an own goal by the Avs. Easton Cowan got the credit for the Maple Leafs after Cowan’s crossing pass from the left side of the goal line deflected off the skate of Brent Burns, who was camped on the right side of the net, and the puck rolled past Miner for a 1-0 visitors’ lead.

Burns could hardly believe it, and neither could Miner as the Ball Arena crowd wilted to a soft murmur as the Avs faithful attempted to process what just happened. Meanwhile, the Colorado offense was pressuring Toronto with nothing to show for it.

“I loved the start to the game,” Bednar said. “We had, I’d bet, five or six really good looks to the game in the first five or so minutes, and their goalie made some big saves for them. I thought we started dwindling at the end of the first with our checking game. We were giving up some chances where we’d normally be checking the puck back in some of those situations, and that’s what we kept doing in the second.”

A couple minutes after Toronto’s first goal, Cale Makar drew a penalty for tripping, but Miner held the score at 1-0 with a couple nice saves.

Shortly after that effective penalty kill, Necas ripped off a highlight play to even the game.

In the Avs’ offensive end, Necas made Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe fall to his butt with a slick corkscrew move, then Necas zipped a cross-ice pass from one faceoff circle to the other, where the puck found Makar. The reigning Norris Trophy winner wristed it home, a series of events that had the crowd amped up in the opposite of the what-just-happened vibe of the Burns’ own-lamp lighter.

“That was a great pass by Marty to get it started for us tonight,” Makar said.

About 90 seconds later, after Toronto’s Morgan Reilly essentially tackled the Avs’ Parker Kelly in front of the Maple Leafs’ net to draw an interference penalty, Colorado made quick work to take its first lead.

Makar promptly won the faceoff, passed to MacKinnon, and then Nate The Great found Brock Nelson for a goal five seconds into the power play to make it 2-1.

Just over two minutes into the second, Toronto took the momentum right back when Bobby McMann got a one-on-one breakaway following an Avs misplay off a faceoff in their offensive zone, and McMann beat Miner on the bottom right shelf. Colorado had its chances to re-take the lead throughout the rest of the second, but Toronto’s Joseph Woll turned away all seven Avs shots.

“In the second we let them control the game a little bit in our end,” Makar said.

The first half of the third period was somewhat sleepy, then dual penalties on Scott Laughton (high sticking) and Martin Necas (holding) led to a four-on-four scenario, and Toronto re-taking control. Only 16 seconds after those penalties, Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews beat Miner on the top right shelf with a wrister from the right faceoff circle.

But Toronto’s lead didn’t hold for long. Two-and-a-half minutes later, the Avs top line came through, with MacKinnon feeding Necas for a tap-in goal right in front of the net to re-electrify the crowd.

“That was a hard-working, determined shift,” Bednar said. “We got to the inside, won a forecheck. Those were the kind of things we were doing at the start of the game. … I definitely like the response to go out onto the ice and get that goal back.”

Matthews then got called for tripping on Necas, leading to a late-period power play that Colorado couldn’t capitalize on en route to the defeat in overtime.

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