{"id":928744,"date":"2026-10-11T07:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T07:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/928744\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T07:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T07:30:09","slug":"tough-loss-of-tanev-tempers-maple-leafs-wild-comeback-vs-avalanche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/928744\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Tough’ loss of Tanev tempers Maple Leafs’ wild comeback vs. Avalanche"},"content":{"rendered":"

DENVER \u2014 William Nylander<\/a> had just driven the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> to an improbable and intoxicating 6-3 comeback win against the smothering attack of the Avalanche and amid the thin air of Colorado.<\/p>\n

So, before fulfilling his media duties, or locating a T-shirt, Nylander quietly approached Chris Tanev<\/a>. The offensive engine and defensive rock exchanged a few words in the bowels of Ball Arena as teammates ran through their post-win lift.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tanev had left with an undisclosed upper-body injury in the first period after an innocuous bump from behind by Colorado\u2019s Artturi Lehkonen.<\/p>\n

It was the type of not-overly-violent whiplash contact that could have fans flashing back to Nov. 1, when a mild knock from Flyers forward Matvei Michkov had sent the recently concussed Tanev to the ice, onto a stretcher, then to the hospital. Tanev also suffered a core muscle injury last season, a nightmare winter that ended with spring surgery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old played just 11 games in 2025-26. Despite on-record and off-record assurances that the warrior veteran was \u201cas healthy as anybody<\/a>\u201d (GM John Chayka\u2019s words) to start the season, Tanev didn\u2019t make it through Game 6 in 2026-27.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not fun to see,\u201d Nylander said. \u201cI really don\u2019t know what happened, but hopefully he\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTanny\u2019s like the anchor of the back end,\u201d Blankenburg added. \u201cJust shut down defensively, him and (Jake McCabe). And that sucks seeing a guy go down the tunnel, whoever it is. But hopefully it’s not too serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Jim Hiller did not have an update on the severity of Tanev\u2019s latest injury, and the Maple Leafs don\u2019t hit the ice until Monday, when they\u2019ll practise in Park City, Utah. That Tanev was walking around in his suit is encouraging.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re always concerned, whether it\u2019s him or anybody, when you see a player not be able to finish the game,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cSo, yeah, always concerned about my players.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, he\u2019s honestly probably the toughest guy I\u2019ve played with \u2014 with what he\u2019s played through and what he can play through,\u201d McCabe said.<\/p>\n

One worries for the athlete, foremost.<\/p>\n

Fans worry, too, for the state of the Maple Leafs defence corps should Tanev \u2014 integral to an excellent penalty kill and a happy consumer of all toughest matchups \u2014 miss significant time.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake: The Leafs kinda stole this game from the Avalanche, thanks to sturdy special teams, timely strikes from superstars, and a rather awful showing by Avs goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, who allowed three goals on four Toronto shots in Period 2 and posted a .773 save percentage.<\/p>\n

Led by the speedy MacKinnon (two goals), Colorado appeared the faster and more organized side. The Avalanche lost despite holding significant edges in shots (33-22), scoring chances (49-18), and high-danger looks (18-8), per\u00a0NaturalStatTrick.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always tough here,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cI mean, they\u2019re a really good team. They move the puck well. Their top six can really create and generate time in the offensive zone and can make it really hard. But I thought we did a good job weathering the storm. Bob came up with some huge saves, and the power play came through. PK was solid. And sometimes you just gotta weather the storm, bend don\u2019t break, and just grind out a win. I thought we did that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed. And credit to these Leafs, for flashing resiliency and dressing the superior goalie and swiping three of four points against titans in Vegas and Denver.<\/p>\n

That one skater excitedly piped, \u201cGreen light night!\u201d before leaving town was understandable. This was a big win.<\/p>\n

But killing plays, defending the rush, and breaking out smoothly were already underlying issues before Tanev went down. Now, those storm clouds will only darken if Toronto is forced to persevere without its best pure defenceman.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a heart-and-soul guy. He plays a big role on our back end. Shutdown guy. So, you\u2019re hoping it’s nothing serious and that he’ll be all right,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cBut we\u2019ll see. Obviously, it\u2019s a tough loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

That undercuts an emotional win.<\/p>\n

\u2022 McKenna needed all of one shift on the Maple Leafs\u2019 top power-play unit to set up a goal. Then his diligent backcheck led to Toronto\u2019s second power-play strike.<\/p>\n

That top unit has been screaming for an elite passer, but the rookie only got the opportunity Saturday because his landlord, John Tavares, was absent. He also saw 5-on-5 shifts to the left of Nylander and Matthews.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery game he\u2019s taking steps. We just played Vegas and Colorado, and you’re a young guy at 18 years old. To play those two games back-to-back, it\u2019s pretty impressive. And he’s dynamic \u2014 you know that,\u201d Hiller said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re not just giving that to him. He\u2019s earned that. And you could see down the road where this is going to go with him. But for now, at that young age, if he’s earned it, we’re going to give him a crack to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Blankenburg needed to wait until Game 6 of the season to dress, but only one shift as a Maple Leaf to score.<\/p>\n

The defenceman sniped a beauty to open the scoring \u2014 and register the season\u2019s first goal by a Leafs defenceman \u2014 at 3:03. He wears No. 3. The last Toronto D-man to score in his first game for the team? Justin Holl, who also wore No. 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst time you get into game in the year, you\u2019re a little bit nervous, but I think it’s a good kind of nervous. Like, excited,\u201d Blankenburg said. \u201cTo get one there in the first shift definitely felt nice. Kind of took a weight off my shoulders and just kind of go out there and play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Matthews has piled six assists over the past three games. Half of those have plays have been finished by Nylander.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what they can do together,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cWhen I was here (as Mike Babcock\u2019s assistant), they played together all the time, so we always know that\u2019s a go-to. We want to try to find some more chemistry with some other guys… If those things don\u2019t work, then we\u2019ll probably lean more on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 New dad (again, for the fourth time) Tavares has one more name to inscribe on the top of his hockey sticks when he returns to the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat news there. Tucker Tavares, a 10-pounder,\u201d Hiller announced Friday. \u201cWe\u2019ve got ourselves a power forward on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

How\u2019s that for a beauty hockey name? Tucker Tavares. Somewhere, Darcy smiles.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Nylander\u2019s five-point effort allowed him to become the fifth-fastest Leaf to 700 points and swipe sole possession of seventh place on the club\u2019s all-time goal list (297), passing George Armstrong and Frank Mahovlich.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was just all over it tonight. One of those games where it just seemed like he had the puck on his stick a lot, and he was making things happen,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big-time game from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hiller sees a more mature player, physically and mentally, than the one he coached in his first tour with the Leafs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was always strong then, but now he\u2019s a real powerful player, and he understands the game really well with and without the puck,\u201d Hiller said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first was with him young, he was an offensive player, and you\u2019re trying to teach him how to play the game without the puck. Now he knows to play the game without the puck. I think that’s probably the biggest difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DENVER \u2014 William Nylander had just driven the Toronto Maple Leafs to an improbable and intoxicating 6-3 comeback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":928745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-928744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}