Toronto Maple Leafs lose first against highly flying Colorado Avalanche team 3-2 in Overtime –NHL
Both Colorado and Toronto were looking to extend their winning streak going into the matchup, but it was the Avalanche that emerged successful against Maple Leafs to extend their record to five straight now after an overtime win, 3-2, Monday night, October
17, at the sold-out Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Toronto Maple Leafs lost their first matchup of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season after having won three back-to-back against Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Calgary Flames.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who started his second matchup for Colorado, could not have been happier to have won against his former team which left his without a contract after the 2010-2011 season ended.
"It feels good to beat your old team", said Giguere, who finished with 27 saves. "As a team, we played extremely well. It was the last game of a long road trip and we managed a way to get some energy. We should be really pleased. We are a pretty young team
and it's good to start like this on the road and get some confidence".
After a scoreless first period with both teams killing their respective penalties, Phil Kessel potted his sixth of the season on a breakaway unassisted within the opening 19 seconds of the second period.
Kessel might have given the home crowd to cheer with joy but it was two straight goals by Colorado’s Daniel Winnik and Milan Hejduk on a power play that silenced them right back up.
With less than five-minutes remaining in the third and final period of regulation, Toronto was on the edge to at least level the match and force an overtime extension, which is exactly what they did as Nikolai Kulemin scored his first at the 15:17 mark.
David Jones scored the game-winner 1:11 into overtime, sealing their victory in the Canadian city.
"This is really impressive after the loss at home", Hejduk said. "We've come back with 5 straight (wins). It's great for a young team. It builds up the confidence and we are looking forward to playing more games”.
The young Colorado team is eyeing another win as they return home to play Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, while Toronto will play its final home game against Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.
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