Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs eye extending winning streak in next meeting -NHL Preview
One of the most anticipated matchups Monday night will certainly be that of Colorado Avalanche versus Toronto Maple Leafs because both teams at the moment remain perfect in their winning and are equally eyeing to extend that record at the Air Canada Centre
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Colorado has lost only one matchup, which was the season opener against Detroit Red Wings but since then, has remained perfect by winning four straight against some top teams like Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens.
Toronto Maple Leafs on the other hand, have not lost a single match and having played three against their Canadian neighbours, it will their first contest of the new 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season against an American hockey club.
Leafs young goalie, James Reimer, has remained a huge contributing factor in his teams’ winning so far with his early shutout of Montreal Canadiens to inaugurate the season and hopes that they can keep this momentum going having the home-ice advantage against
Colorado.
"To get off to this start, it's huge for us", Reimer, told the Canadian Press on Saturday. "Hopefully we can keep it rolling, stay confident and keep improving in our game. And hopefully when it's all said and done we'll have had a pretty good season".
Toronto might face difficulty in blocking all of Colorado’s shots come show time as the Avalanche line-up is one which is focused on taking as much chances on the net as possible. Colorado has not scored less than five goals during their past two matchups
and with a heated Gabriel Landeskog on the line-up, they do not have plans of slowing down anytime soon.
Maple Leafs can count on their former top overall entry draft pick, Phil Kessel, who has put up big numbers for the franchise thus far. In the three matchups he has played in so far with Toronto, Kessel has registered an amazing record of eight points (5
goals, 3 assists), making him a go-to-guy for the team.
"They're just going in”, Kessel told the Canadian Press. "I have some great linemates and they gave me the puck and we're just clicking".
Colorado also has a top performing goalie in the form of, Semyon Varlamov, a 23-year-old defender acquired during the 2011 offseason coming out of three seasons with Washington Capitals.
In their recent contests, Varlamov has cemented himself in the net and blocked a number of key shots which ultimately led his team to victory, especially during shootouts, where a single goal can make all the difference.
"He gave us a chance to win. He made some big saves", Avs coach, Joe Sacco, told the Denver Post.
Both Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche had one of their worst performances during the last regular season which kept them out of the playoffs. Going fresh into the new season, they have high hopes vested in these 82-games to change around their
club for the better.
Monday nights matchup is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET.
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