Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen tumbles to the ice during a game against the Colorado Avalanche, in Toronto, on Jan. 14, 2019.Cole Burston/The Canadian Press
The struggling Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen back into the fold Monday night, hoping his steadying influence would help alter the team’s fortunes.
But Andersen’s stoic presence back between the pipes at Scotiabank Arena was not enough to revive the flagging fortunes of his teammates as the Colorado Avalanche would skate to a 6-3 victory.
The win for the opportunistic Avs snapped a three-game slide while the loss for Toronto was their second straight.
Forward Carl Soderberg scored three for Colorado, including the eventual winner when he rifled home a shot past Andersen from the left circle at the 11 minute 45 second mark of the third period.
Now armed with a 4-3 lead, Colorado iced the game with two empty-netters over the final three minutes, the first by Matt Calvert and the other by Soderberg at 18:12, giving him the hat trick.
Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen had the other Colorado markers while Igor Ozhiganov, Kasperi Kapanen and Mitch Marner replied for Toronto.
The Avalanche overcame a two-goal disadvantage in the second period to take a 3-2 lead into the third, in which Marner would tie it up at the six-minute mark.
Marner blazed in from the left side, where his shot beat Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov up high to the far corner to knot the game at 3-3. For Marner, it was his 18th of the season.
But the Leafs were unable to get the equalizer, much to the chagrin of an increasingly agitated pro-Leaf gathering that would wind up venting its angst against Toronto defenceman Jake Gardiner, booing him relentlessly every time he touched the puck in the third period.
The veteran Leaf defender was victimized badly on Soderberg’s first goal in the second period, a shorthanded effort that transpired after shoving Gardiner aside deep in the Toronto zone to gain control of the puck.
Soderberg then moved in on Andersen and was able to chip the puck over the sprawling Leaf goalie for a 3-2 Colorado lead.
“Not what you wanted to hear,” Gardiner stated after the game about the rough fan reaction.
Toronto coach Mike Babcock said the fans are entitled to their opinion, however harsh it might seem.
“What I would say is, he’s a really, really good player, a really important piece – didn’t play good,” came Babcock’s assessment. “The good thing about our fans here, they’re passionate, they want us to win. They want us to play way harder and we want to play harder than that for them.
“And I think we’ve done a good job over time here to be a real good team to watch. And we weren’t good enough to watch. And they paid their money, they’re allowed to say what they want.”
The Leafs welcomed Andersen back into the starting lineup for the game. He had been sidelined since Dec. 22 with a groin injury and, most recently, a touch of the flu.
And the Leafs have not exactly been setting the world on fire during his absence, coming into the contest having lost four of their past six. Colorado has been much worse, though, having lost nine of its previous 10 outings.
“A lot of our success comes from Freddie,” Kapanen said heading into the game, the 100th of his National Hockey League career. “He’s a huge part of our team.”
Leaf backup Garrett Sparks also returned to his role after a concussion cost him five games.
Andersen’s return was timely as the Avalanche, struggling as they have been, feature one of the National Hockey League’s most dynamic lines with Nathan MacKinnon skating between Rantanen and Landeskog.
The trio had already combined for an impressive 185 points this season with Rantanen and MacKinnon ranked in the top five in the league’s overall scoring race.
They entered the game having factored in on 60.9 per cent of Colorado’s scoring this year, so chances are if you shut them down offensively you will have better odds at winning the game.
There were no goals in the opening frame but the offence started churning in the second where the Leafs jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead.
Ozhiganov opened the scoring for Toronto, the rangy defenceman’s third of the season, at the 2:14 mark, when his floater from the right point eluded Varlamov.
Just more than a minute later, Par Lindholm buried one from in front for Toronto, but the goal was overturned upon review after a missed offside call.
No matter. Moments later Kapanen worked his magic from in close for his 15th of the year that would stand up to give Toronto a 2-0 lead.
But the big three of the Avalanche then got busy, beginning with Landeskog netting his 28th on a nice deflection from the slot.
Rantanen then swiped the puck away from Nazem Kadri and skated unimpeded toward the Toronto, net where his shot eluded Andersen to tie the game at 2-2.
Colorado would then rub some salt into the open wound when Soderberg outmuscled Gardiner for the puck deep in the Toronto zone while the Leafs were on the power play.
And for the rest of the game the fans would not let Gardiner forget the gaffe.