Instant Reaction: The William Nylander show takes over Denver

William Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs showed up to Ball Arena in Denver and made a statement.

After the Maple Leafs saw a 3-o lead evaporate on Thursday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, resulting in a 4-3 shootout loss, the Leafs came into an equally tough road game against Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche and took the game with a 6-3 win. Stealing the show was Nylander, who recorded two goals and three assists for five points in the win, bringing him up to 11 points in six games to lead the team in scoring. Not far behind him is Auston Matthews, who scored two goals including the empty-netter and adding two assists for a four point night and ten points in six games.

With nine points combined between Matthews and Nylander and the Leafs finding their way back into a tough game against one of the best teams in the NHL, it was everything that the Maple Leafs lacked last season as well as parts of the year before. They were creative, they converted on the power play, and their best players led the way. It was one of, if not their most impressive win in recent memory.

Sergei Bobrovsky ended up getting his second consecutive start after head coach Jim Hiller remained tight-lipped until shortly before the game about who would be in net, and he made the most of it. He stopped 30 of 33 shots for a .909 save percentage to pick up his first win of the season, after stopping 40 of 43 shots against Vegas on Thursday. Bobrovsky has had a tendency to crack early and tighten up as the game gets more intense, and tonight was another textbook example of it.

Also not to be overlooked was Nick Blankenburg’s first goal as a Leaf on his first shift of his first game, against a former team of his no less. With Chris Tanev leaving the game with an upper body injury, Blankenburg will certainly see a spike in his usage, and probably should have even if Tanev finished the game. Easton Cowan stayed hot with his second goal in as many games to round it out for the Leafs.

The Maple Leafs will look to keep the good times rolling when they visit the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday.