Avs center Nazem Kadri was born in London, Ontario, and was a first-round draft pick of the Maple Leafs (No. 7 overall) in 2009. He spent parts of 10 seasons with the Leafs, recording 357 points (161 goals, 196 assists) in 561 games… Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog played his junior hockey in nearby Kitchener for the OHL Rangers from 2009-2011… Maple Leafs' center Alexander Kerfoot played his first two NHL seasons with Colorado (2017-2019)…
HISTORY
The Avs hold an all-time 43-32-10 record against the Leafs and a 23-17-5 mark as the visiting team. Colorado has won three straight games in Toronto and are 7-2-1 in its last 10 games at Scotiabank Arena. Since moving to Denver in 1995, the Avs have won 13 of the 22 matchups in Toronto. Colorado is 4-3-0 against the Leafs since the 2017-18 campaign and are 5-4-0 in the last eight meetings.
ROSTER REPORT
The Avalanche squad is relatively healthy with only two short-term injuries and one week-to-week injury.
INJURY REPORT
Jack Johnson left the game on Jan. 4 with a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Valeri Nichushkin continues to be sidelined with an upper-body injury. Stefan Matteau is expected to be out for a few more weeks while he rehabs a lower-body injury from October 2021.
SCOUTING THE MAPLE LEAFS
Saturday night's game at Ball Arena is the Leafs' second game back since the NHL's holiday break. Most recently, they won their contest Jan. 5 at home in Toronto 4-2 versus the Edmonton Oilers. Toronto is currently holding third place in the Atlantic Division with a 22-8-2 record. League-wide, they are in seventh place behind the Vegas Golden Knights.
(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: William Nylander
Right-winger William Nylander who leads the Maple Leafs' roster in points has grabbed 35 points (15 goals and 20 assists) in 32 games for Toronto. Nylander was selected by the Maple Leafs in the first round, eighth overall, of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
NUMBERS GAME
7
Since returning from injury Dec. 8, Colorado G Darcy Kuemper owns a 7-0-0 record with a .929 save percentage.
593
Nathan MacKinnon currently leads the NHL in points per game (1.65). He now has 593 points in 593 career games, 662 in 643 games including playoffs.
7
Colorado has scored seven goals in a game for the seventh time this season. They are the first team in the league since the Mario Lemieux-led Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96 (nine times) to record as many seven-plus goal games through their first 30 contests.
NOTEBOOK
With five points Thursday, Nathan Mackinnon is now a point per game player for his entire career… Mikko Rantanen passes John-Michael Liles on the franchise assist leaderboard and is now 15th all-time…Bowen Byram scored his fifth goal of the season, which ranks first among all rookie defensemen. Byram's 11 points in 2021-22 rank fourth among first-year blueliners despite having played just 16 games - at least 15 fewer contests than any rookie defensemen ranked above him - this season.
