The Toronto Maple Leafs continue their three-game road swing against the reigning President’s Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, and will have to do it without center John Tavares, who left the club on Friday to be with his wife for the birth of their fourth child, a son named Tucker.
The Leafs shuffled their lines accordingly, inserting center Nick Paul on the second line with Easton Cowan and William Nylander, shifting Colton Sissons to the middle between Gavin McKenna and Benoit-Olivier Groulx, and inserting enforcer Zach MacEwen on the fourth line with Teddy Bleuger and Brandon Duhaime. The club also recalled forward Miles Wood from AHL Toronto.
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Based on the combinations used at practice in Las Vegas on Friday, Leafs head coach Jim Hiller may be shaking up his defensive pairings as well, as Jake McCabe was promoted to the top pairing with Darren Raddysh, and Morgan Rielly skated with Chris Tanev. Sergei Bobrovsky took a maintenance day, so it is unknown whether the veteran will be making the start or backup Anthony Stolarz.
Toronto is currently in a playoff spot through the first two weeks of the regular season, an encouraging sign for a club that has not played a complete contest yet. Colorado is 3-1-0, coming off a victory over Calgary on Thursday, and has the league’s best goal differential at +12, so the short-handed Leafs will need their top players (named William Nylander and newcomer Kirill Marchenko) to show up.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (2-2-1 – 5 POINTS) vs. COLORADO AVALANCHE (3-1-0 – 6 POINTS)
OCTOBER 10, 2026 ▪ 7:00 PM EST ▪ BALL ARENA (DENVER, CO)
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: SPORTSNET 590
HISTORY vs. COLORADO
| All-Time Record: | 37-43-9-5 (94 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 17-19-5-3 (44 Games) |
| 2025-26: | 1-1-0 |
| Last Five: | |
| Last 10: |
| First Matchup Between Clubs: | November 18, 1979 (Toronto 2 – Quebec 4) |
| All-Time Record: | 37-43-9-5 (94 Games) |
| All-Time Home Record: | 20-24-4-2 (50 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 17-19-5-3 (44 Games) |
| Last Road Win vs. Opponent: | January 13, 2026 (4-3 OTW) |
MAPLE LEAFS / AVALANCHE – 2026-27 TEAM STATS
| COLORADO | TORONTO | |
| Goals For Per Game: | 5.75 (1st) | 2.8 (21st) |
| Goals Against Per Game: | 2.75 (13th-T) | 2.8 (16th-T) |
| Power Play %: | 30.8 (7th-T) | 20.0 (18th-T) |
| Penalty Kill %: | 100.0 (1st) | 93.3 (2nd) |
| Shots For Per Game: | 32.3 (3rd-T) | 28.8 (10th) |
| Shots Against Per Game: | 26.3 (11th) | 29.6 (26th-T) |
| Faceoff %: | 51.0 (13th) | 53.0 (8th) |
| (NHL rank in parenthesis) | ||
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