Toews Leading Avs On And Off The Ice

Devon Toews has made his presence known in his first season with the Colorado Avalanche.
The defenseman already set a new career high for goals in a single campaign and has now matched his personal best for points in a season after scoring twice on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Toews and defensive partner Cale Makar provided the offense for the Avalanche in a 3-2 victory at Staples Center in downtown L.A. to help the team keep pace with the Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot in the West Division. Colorado trails Vegas by four points but owns a game in hand and controls its own destiny to take first place with the Avs and Knights set to face off on Monday.

"First meeting we had at the beginning of the year, [the discussion] was we're gunning for first. That's our goal, that's what we expect, and we have three games left and a chance to do it," Toews said. "So it started with these two games in L.A. here, putting ourselves in a position to be able to do that. We got to go one game at a time, but now we got the big one. We're ready for it, we're prepared, and it should be a fun one."
Toews' two goals on Saturday marked his first career multi-goal game, and he became the first blueliner on the team to score twice in an outing this season. Makar was the last D-man to light the lamp multiple times in a contest, doing so on Nov. 21, 2019 at the Minnesota Wild.

The Abbotsford, British Columbia, native opened the scoring when he gathered a loose puck in the slot after the Kings couldn't corral it and buried a shot at 4:46 of the first period. His second marker was a wrister from the left circle after Makar found him with a cross pass through three Los Angeles defenders at 9:45 of the middle frame.
"A little bit blessed on that one to get that opportunity there," said Toews of his first tally of the night. "I was fortunate to finish it off there. The second one was just good O-zone play. It starts with our forecheck tonight, just creating time and space for us at the top there. You know, we're able to roll three high with room there once we get on the forecheck and force turnovers, so it was a great play by Cale to get me the puck on the far-side."
That second tally gave the Avalanche a 3-1 lead at the time and ended up as the game-winning goal, Toews' second game-winner of the season and fifth of his three-year career.

He leads all team defensemen this season with nine goals and has added 19 assists for 28 points, matching his career high that he set last year with the New York Islanders in 68 games. Toews' reached the mark after 50 outings with the Avs.
Saturday was also his eighth career multi-point performance, with four coming this season in Colorado.
"It's just a different style. I take a lot of pride in being able to contribute whichever way," Toews said of his first year in burgundy and blue. "Some nights it's defensively, some nights it's offensively, and I've been fortunate to be on the offensive side of it a little more this year. With those opportunities to play with Nate (MacKinnon) and [Gabriel Landeskog] and Mikko (Rantanen) up there, but we got so many good forwards up there, all four lines. You know, the way we play generates a lot of speed and offense, and I'm just trying to contribute and get the puck to the guys with speed and in good places, and I think we're all doing a good job with that."

The back-to-back series in Los Angeles also presented a situation for Toews that he is very proud of. With Nathan MacKinnon missing both contests, the team needed another alternate captain on the ice and designated the honor to Toews.
It was the first time in the NHL that he's worn a captain's letter on his chest.
"It wasn't expected. I take a lot of pride in that, and it was a huge honor for me to wear that," Toews said. "We have 15 guys in the room that could wear that on any given night, honestly. It is such a good group, a lot of guys lead by example on the ice and a lot of guys lead with their voice in the room. I think it is just more of a community that we've created here--we got a lot of natural born leaders."
Toews has certainly displayed those skills on and off the ice this year.

MACKINNON AND INJURY UPDATES

Nathan MacKinnon missed his second consecutive game with a minor lower-body injury, and his status for Monday's matchup at the Vegas Golden Knights won't be known until game day.
"We're just going to be smart," Bednar said of getting MacKinnon back in the lineup. "If he's hurting and can't go or if we feel like there's risk of him getting worse, then we won't play him.
"That will be a decision after talking with him and seeing how he's feeling, and I won't make that decision until game time--or morning at the earliest and game time at the latest. If it's something that he wants to do and he's feeling good and he can play, then he'll play. If he's not, then it's not."
MacKinnon leads the Avalanche and is tied for fifth in the NHL in scoring with 65 points.
Also not playing on Saturday was Carl Soderberg, but the forward was held out for more rest after a slight tweak in his back. Jayson Megna took his spot on the fourth line.
"I think he's a guy that we could have played if it was the be-all, end-all, but we had some extra guys," Bednar noted of Soderberg. "Megna is a guy that has played extremely well for us… I made the decision to pull Sodes and give him a day of rest in a back-to-back and get a guy in here that we may need here early in the playoffs."
Defenseman Patrik Nemeth was back in the lineup for the contest after not finishing Friday's game following a collision into the boards in the second period. Nemeth was paired with Jacob MacDonald and saw 16:30 of ice time.

BURAKOVSKY ON A ROLL

Andre Burakovsky had two assists and extended his season-long point streak to five games. He has three goals and five assists during his current run.
"I mean, just a little bit lucky right now," Burakovsky said. "Things are going the right way for me, and I'm just trying to create stuff and if it ends up in a goal I'm happy about that."
It was his 13th multi-point game this year and his third in the last four outings.
After 50 games, the forward has 40 points (17 goals and 23 assists), the second-most he's had in a season in his NHL tenure. He posted career highs with 20 goals, 25 assists and 45 points in 58 contests last year with Colorado.

MORE POSTGAME NOTES

The Avalanche is 5-1-0 against Los Angeles this season, the club's most wins against the Kings in a single campaign. Colorado, which held a 30-18 advantage in shots in the outing, has outshot Los Angeles 204-133 (plus-71) so far through six-of-eight games in the season series.
All three of the Avs' goals came from defensemen, the most goals the Avs have had from their blue line in a game this season. Colorado has 139 points (26 goals, 113 assists) from defensemen in 2020-21, the most of any team.
Colorado wrapped up its ninth back-to-back of the year and is a combined 14-1-3 in consecutive-night sets, including a 6-0-3 mark in the second contest. The Avs have swept four straight back-to-backs, a franchise record.
Devon Toews has two game-winning goal this season, which equals his most in a campaign previously set in 2018-19 with the New York Islanders.
Cale Makar recorded his 11th multi-point performance of the season, surpassing the 10 multi-point outings he produced in his rookie campaign in 2019-20. Among NHL defensemen, he ranks first in points per game (1.05), sixth in total points (43) and fifth in assists (35).
Mikko Rantanen notched an assist and has nine points (four goals and five assists) in six games since returning to the lineup after a COVID protocol-related absence.