In a marquee matchup Friday between 2016 World Cup of Hockey teammates and No. 1 NHL draft picks, Nathan MacKinnon, the first pick in 2013, got the better of 2016 No. 1 selection Auston Matthews at the Pepsi Center.
Behind MacKinnon’s goal and two assists and another perfect performance on the penalty kill, the Avalanche defeated Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime before the first sellout crowd at the Pepsi Center since the Oct. 11 home opener.
J.T. Compher scored a 4-on-3 power-play goal 3:25 into overtime — coming on a penalty MacKinnon drew, and shortly after MacKinnon clanged a shot off iron. Matthews was pointless but had five of the Leafs’ 34 shots.
“He’s one of the best players in the league — one of my favorite players to watch, for sure,” MacKinnon, who had five shots and was plus-3, said of Matthews. “He’s so talented and it’s always fun to go against top players like that.”
MacKinnon is a sure-fire NHL all-star next month in Tampa, Fla. He’s now ninth among NHL scorers with 43 points (16 goals).
“He was really good tonight — dangerous every time he touched the puck,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of MacKinnon, 22. “He was seeing the ice and making the plays all over the ice — on both sides of the puck. Defensively, when he arrived in D-zone coverage he was heavy, he was winning puck battles and he was getting us going the other way in a hurry.”
MacKinnon’s second assist of the game came at 4:34 of the third period, when rookie forward Alex Kerfoot broke a 2-2 tie with a wrist shot from the right circle. MacKinnon began the play, driving the puck through the left wing and dishing to defenseman Nikita Zadorov (two assists), who slid if over to Kerfoot on the right wing.
Kerfoot had the screen on Compher’s game-winning shot, preventing goalie Calvin Pickard — the former Av — from seeing the puck come off his stick.
“Great screen in front from ‘Kerf’, and Carl (Soderberg) right before that,” Compher said. “Good to get a win. We want to finish that in regulation but we stayed with it, we battled and we got the two points. That’s the main thing.”
The Leafs’ James van Riemsdyk tied it 3-3 on a 6-on-5 attack with 1:55 remaining in regulation. Pickard was on the bench for an extra attacker when van Riemsdyk put a rebound behind goalie Semyon Varlamov.
The Avs were perfect in penalty killing for the 10th consecutive game. They killed off two Toronto power plays to improve to 29-of-29 during that 10-game stretch and 30-of-30 overall.
“I liked the way we played tonight a lot,” Bednar said. “I thought we had a great first period. We were on our toes, limited our chances-against. We were a focused group, a determined group. I know they answered back a couple times but it didn’t seem to rattle us.”
Before blowing their late 3-2 lead, the Avs took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 but couldn’t sustain either. Toronto forward Matt Martin scored less than four minutes after MacKinnon gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. And less than four minutes after Mikko Rantanen got the Avs up 2-1, Leafs defenseman Roman Polak tied it.
Both Toronto goals were of the fluke variety. Martin’s pass from behind the Avs goal caromed in off the skate of back-checking forward Blake Comeau. And Polak’s wrist shot from the end line sneaked in through Varlamov’s pads. Varlamov was otherwise outstanding.
