Avalanche rallies on the road to beat Toronto Maple Leafs

TORONTO — The Colorado Avalanche came here with a depleted lineup and it got worse, both before the game and during. Then they spotted the Maple Leafs a three-goal lead. Then the best collection of star power in the NHL went to work.

Colorado came all the way back, with Nathan MacKinnon providing the game-winner in a stunning 5-3 victory. MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Jonathan Drouin all had two points in the win, while Toronto’s top forwards did not make it on the scoresheet. The Avalanche responded after a rough opening period with a much better 20 minutes to make it a game.

Both goals were fortuitous, but the Avs did a much better job of controlling the proceedings. Jonathan Drouin scored from the slot on a quick pass from Ross Colton. The Avs were on a power play and had a delayed penalty coming, so MacKinnon tried to give the puck to the Maple Leafs.

TJ Brodie avoided the puck, and it went right to Colton. Drouin has seven goals and 16 points in his past 15 games and continues to look right at home on both the Avalanche first line and top power-play unit. The Avs’ top line stuck to make it a one-goal game, with an assist from Toronto’s Auston Matthews.

Drouin nearly set up MacKinnon for a redirect off the rush, then Matthews passed the puck right to Samuel Girard at the top of the zone. His shot deflected right to Rantanen, who collected his 22nd goal of the season. Colorado continued to dictate the play at the start of the third period.

The Avs did not score on a power play, but had several chances and found the equalizer soon after. Josh Manson’s shot from the right point didn’t reach the net, but landed at the feet of Andrew Cogliano, who scored 7:35 into the game. The Avs have been shorthanded of late with four key players out of the lineup, but Valeri Nichushkin was unable to play because of an illness.

He and Miles Wood are both currently sick, and other players have been under the weather at times in recent days as well. Colorado went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, but finished with six because Jack Johnson left the game with a lower-body injury. It couldn’t have gone much worse in the first period for the Avalanche.

Toronto led 3-0 at the first intermission after a calamitous cocktail of bad luck, bad turnovers and trouble in front of their own net. Max Domi put the Maple Leafs on the board with a fluky goal after the Avs committed an icing infraction. His shot from the left point was altered as he let it go, then it hit Manson in the chest and changed directions.

Morgen Rielly made it 2-0 after an uncharacteristic and unfortunate mistake by Devon Toews. He got the puck with his glove near the Colorado blue line, but when he dropped it to the ice near his feet, Rielly poked it away from him and into open ice before skating in alone and scoring. Both of those goals could be explained away, but the third one was just ugly.

Timothy Liljegren pounced on a loose puck to the right of the Colorado net, with nearly all five of the Avs watching in close proximity after Pontus Holmberg was standing over Alexandar Georgiev unencumbered trying to stuff one past him. .