Avalanche And Maple Leafs Meet For The First Time This Season

The Colorado Avalanche hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday as the team continues its season-long, six-game homestand at Pepsi Center. This is the first meeting between the Avs and Leafs this season, and the two clubs will meet for a final time in Toronto on Jan. 22.
Colorado is 39-29-10 all-time against Toronto, including a 19-12-5 record on home ice.

Last Time Out

Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche opened its six-game homestand on Wednesday with a 3-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes. Arizona opened the scoring less than a minute after the first puck drop with a goal from Tobias Rieder. The red-hot Mikko Rantanen answered a few minutes later with a tally of his own, knotting the game at one and extending his point streak to seven games. Coyotes rookie center Clayton Keller, who leads the team with 31 points, added another point to his season total with an assist on Alex Goligoski's goal in the middle frame, the eventual game-winner. Lawson Crouse scored his first goal of the season in the third period to seal the outing for Arizona. Avs goaltender Semyon Varlamov finished with 24 saves.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs came off their NHL Holiday Break on Thursday with a 7-4 victory at the Arizona Coyotes. The Leafs exploded out of the gate, taking a three-goal lead with tallies from Zach Hyman, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The Coyotes responded with two goals of their own to close out the opening and cut their deficit to just one. Toronto netted three more, including two from veteran forward Patrick Marleau, in the second period to put the game away. Auston Matthews recorded a goal against the Coyotes and now has three points (two goals, one assist) in his last two games since missing the previous six with a concussion. Goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped 30-of-34 shots in the win.

Last Time They Met

The Avs and Leafs last faced each other over a year ago on Dec. 22, 2016. Goaltender Frederik Andersen made 38 saves to help Toronto to a 6-0 win at Pepsi Center. Frederik Gauthier scored his first career NHL goal and was one of six different Maple Leafs to find the back of the net in the game. Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov made 13 saves while splitting time in net with current Maple Leaf Calvin Pickard, who stopped 12 shots.

What to Watch

Colorado 's Penalty Kill
After going 4-for-4 and a collective 9-for-9 during their home-and-home series against Arizona, the Avs look to continue their red-hot penalty kill. Colorado extended its streak to 28 consecutive kills and now owns an impressive penalty kill of 83.5 percent this season, good for seventh best in the league. Colorado's strong PK has been particularly impressive in December, going 43-for-45 (95.6 percent), putting the club at the top of the NHL for the month.
Toronto 's Third Line
While the Maple Leafs' first line, which is centered by Auston Matthews, often garners lots of attention, Toronto's third line has quietly been putting up impressive numbers recently. The line of Tyler Bozak, Mitch Marner and James van Riemsdyk have combined for 19 points in their last five games and 28 points in their last 10. Eleven of those 28 points have been on the power play, as the line also makes up part of the Leafs' first man-advantage unit that has helped the team rank fifth overall in the NHL in the category

Player to Watch

Colorado: Goaltender Semyon Varlamov
Semyon Varlamov will get the start and looks to improve on his 12-9-2 record, 2.94 goals-against average and .909 save percentage through 24 games this season. In his last five starts, he is 3-1-1 with a 2.01 goals-against average and .935 save percentage

Toronto: Center Auston Matthews
Auston Matthews returned from his six-game absence (concussion) last Saturday and recorded a goal and an assist against the New York Rangers. Matthews continued that trend on Thursday by netting another marker at the Arizona Coyotes in the Leafs' first game back since the NHL Holiday Break. Despite missing those six games, the 20-year-old Matthews still leads the Leafs in points (29-tied) and plus/minus rating (plus-16) this season.

Lineup Notes

Semyon Varlamov will make his fifth straight start on Friday. With Tyson Barrie set to miss the next four-to-six weeks with a broken hand, the Avalanche called up defenseman Andrei Mironov from the San Antonio Rampage on Thursday afternoon for some depth on the backend. In nine games with the Avs this season, Mironov has tallied three points (one goal, two assists) and a plus-3 rating. He is not expected to play against Toronto, as head coach Jared Bednar said after Thursday's practice that the plan was to play the same six defensemen that the team rostered on Wednesday.

The Details

Friday's game at Pepsi Center between the Avalanche and Maple Leafs will start at 7 p.m. MT. The matchup will be televised locally on Altitude. The radio broadcast can be heard on Altitude Sports Radio AM 950 in the Denver metro area or online at ColoradoAvalanche.com.