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 The difference showed up in the third period Tuesday.
Joffrey Lupul tied the game in third and fellow winger Phil Kessel
scored in overtime and the Maple Leafs defeated the Avalanche 3-2
for their second win in a row.
"You have to give the Avalanche credit, they played (Monday)
afternoon and they came in and stuck to their game plan," Maple
Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "I think it was more a question of
fatigue and everything seemed to go our way from a certain point."
The Avalanche (1-2-1) had scored a last-second, 2-1, victory over
the Bruins in Boston on Monday and were playing on consecutive days
for the first time this season.
"We had a really good start, the first period we were sharp, we had
a lot of good chances." Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "The
second period, the same thing. ... In the third, we had a 2-1 lead
and we had two good chances to make it 3-1. The first back-to-back,
it's always tough for any team and it showed in the third period.
... they had more gas than we had."
The Leafs outshot the Avalanche 31-12 over the final two periods and
40-24 on the game.
Left winger James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Maple Leafs who
won for the first time at home in three attempts.
Centers Ryan O'Reilly and Matt Duchene scored for the Avalanche and
right winger Jarome Iginla had two assists to give him 1,169 career
points, one behind Bobby Hull, who is 49th on the all-time scoring
list.
The Avalanche have scored just four goals so far this season.
"We just have to keep working hard, keep competing, keep getting our
chances and the goals will come," Iginla said. "We had the lead in
the third period. It doesn't feel good but we did a lot of good
things."
Duchene had a breakaway in the third period with a chance to give
Colorado a two-goal lead but he was foiled by Toronto goaltender
James Reimer, who stopped 22 shots in making his second straight
start.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov made 37 saves in the Colorado goal.
The Maple Leafs scored at 9:54 of the first period on the second
goal of the season by van Riemsdyk, who finished off a nifty
give-and-go with Kessel. Center Tyler Bozak picked up his first of
two assists.
The Avalanche tied the game at 13:14 of the first on the first goal
of the season by O'Reilly, who passed from behind the goal to
Iginla. O'Reilly knocked in the rebound with a backhand swipe from
the side of the goal. Defenseman Erik Johnson also picked up an
assist.
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The Avalanche took a 2-1 lead at 17:40 of the second period on the
first goal of the season by Duchene, a wrist shot from the slot.
Iginla picked up his second assist of the game with a pass from the
corner. Left winger Jamie McGinn, who did the work that sent the
puck to the corner, also picked up an assist.
Lupul tied the game with his second goal of the season at 10:36 of
the third period. The unassisted goal was set up by a giveaway by
Avalanche defenseman Brad Stuart.
Kessel scored 34 seconds into overtime with assists by Bozak and
defenseman Dion Phaneuf.
"The building, to be honest, hasn't had a ton of energy, especially
positive energy, anyway, the first couple of games," Lupul said. "We
came at them in waves during the third period and had a couple of
big checks. It got some energy into the building and we really fed
off that."
And by then, the Avalanche were running out of energy and the result
showed.
NOTES: Maple Leafs D Jake Gardiner was a healthy scratch for the
second straight game as rookie D Stuart Percy continues to impress.
Percy had an assist in Sunday's 6-3 win over the Rangers to become
the first rookie defenseman in Leafs history to record a point in
each of his first three games ... Avalanche D Ryan Wilson (head) was
struck in the face by a puck in the 2-1 win at Boston on Monday and
did not play on Tuesday. He is listed as day to day. ...The Maple
Leafs play next against the Detroit Red Wings in back-to-back games.
They play on Friday at Air Canada Centre and in Detroit on Saturday.
... The Avalanche will visit to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and
will conclude a four-game trip with a game against the Canadiens in
Montreal on Saturday.
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