Bertuzzi scores hat trick, Maple Leafs edge Avalanche for 7th straight win
Nylander has 3 assists for Toronto; MacKinnon extends home point streak to 28
By
Ryan Boulding
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
It was Bertuzzi's first multigoal game since Oct. 14, 2021, when he played for the Detroit Red Wings.
“Even before tonight I was feeling good. I thought I was making good plays and just playing decent hockey, and tonight felt good,” Bertuzzi said. “That was a great road trip for us (4-0-0). Collecting eight points and being able to go home on that note is awesome.”
Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist, and William Nylander had three assists for the Maple Leafs (33-16-8). Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves.
“It's a different type of game than the ones we've played here recently. Frankly, for most of the game, I thought we were pretty overwhelmed, but I thought we didn't break,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “There's just a lot of belief in what they're doing, belief in the group. Obviously, 'Sammy' in net battled real hard tonight and kept it out, gave the guys hope.”
Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (35-19-5), who had won six in a row at home. Alexandar Georgiev made 26 saves.
Nathan MacKinnon had three assists to extend his season-opening home point streak to 28 games, which is tied for the sixth-longest at any point in a season in NHL history. Wayne Gretzky owns the record at 40 games (1988-89).
“That was frustrating because I thought we played hard and did a lot of good things, but certainly didn't score easy. I felt like we did it to ourselves at the end of the game,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Guys did a lot of good things. Good competitive effort from our guys, but when you're not scoring easy, you just can't make a couple of those mistakes.”
Artturi Lehkonen gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 2:16 of the first period, redirecting MacKinnon’s slap pass at the edge of the crease for a power-play goal.
Andrew Cogliano made it 2-0 at 11:07, scoring glove side off a pass from MacKinnon on a 2-on-1. MacKinnon had started the rush by skating down the right boards past Morgan Rielly, which forced TJ Brodie to slide his way.
Bertuzzi cut the lead to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 13:42 of the first. He finished a backdoor pass from Marner at the right post.
“Obviously, he's still a very elite tipper. Gets good sticks on pucks. He gets in kind of around that net. He's great at screening the goalie,” Marner said of Bertuzzi. “ You knew he was due. I think the last couple of weeks he's really been playing some great hockey, and that line between him, ‘Willy,’ and [Max Domi], they move the puck very well.”
Bertuzzi scored again to tie the game 2-2 at 14:45 of the second period, swatting in the rebound of Nylander’s initial shot in the crease on a 3-on-2 rush.
“I feel good out there,” Bertuzzi said. “Just trying to find little holes here and there, and obviously you saw tonight, they'll find you. You just got to find the open ice.”
Marner put Toronto in front 3-2 at 16:48 of the second with a wrist shot from just inside the blue line.
“I think we're playing very good hockey, all four lines, all three [defense] pairs, and we've had some massive saves from both our goalies,” Marner said. “Obviously, it's a lot more fun around the locker room when you're winning games. So, just got to make sure we keep doing the right things, keep building as a team in here, and when we're doing stuff right on that ice, it's showing.”
Rantanen tied it 3-3 at 4:41 of the third period, scoring with his own wrist shot from the blue line through traffic.
“I think I have been looking to pass first maybe too much lately. I [was] trying to attack more tonight and move forward,” Rantanen said. “They go 2-for-2 on the power play, and we go 1-for-1. I wish we had another one, but can’t do anything about it.”
Bertuzzi completed the hat trick with a power-play goal at 17:09 for the 4-3 final. He finished a pass by Nylander from below the goal line that caught Georgiev moving the other way.
“I thought we outplayed them for most of the game. I thought we had a good game," Cogliano said. "[It] just comes down to a penalty at the end of the game and they score on a broken play and they find a guy open in front of the net. It just seemed like there were a couple of goals in the second, and it’s a tough one to give up at the end.”
NOTES: Bertuzzi is the first player in Maple Leafs history to score a hat trick on his birthday. … Bertuzzi’s first goal was his 100th in the NHL. … Domi had an assist, his 400th NHL point. … MacKinnon has 62 assists this season. It is the second time he's had at least 60 in his career (2022-23). Only Peter Forsberg (five times) and Joe Sakic (three times) have accomplished the feat more in Avalanche history. … Rantanen scored his 30th goal of the season, the fifth time in the NHL he's reached the mark. … Cale Makar had the secondary assist on Lehkonen's goal. It was his 307th NHL point, tying Tyson Barrie for the most by a defenseman in Avalanche history. … Lehkonen played in his 500th NHL game.
