MacKinnon scores lone shootout goal as Avalanche hand Maple Leafs 2nd straight home loss | CBC Sports

Nathan MacKinnon scored the only goal of the shootout as the visiting Colorado Avalanche defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Mikko Rantanen scored in regulation for Colorado (38-22-6), which got 18 saves from Alexandar Georgiev.

After a frantic overtime that saw terrific chances at both ends, MacKinnon beat Samsonov on a nice deke on the Avalanche’s second shot.

Georgiev then denied Mitch Marner to seal both points for the visitors.

Colorado improved to 4-4 in shootouts, while Toronto dropped to 0-2.

Coming off Monday’s 4-3 home loss to Buffalo where Toronto held a 2-0 lead late in the second period, the Leafs opened the scoring three minutes into the first when Rielly scored his third after hitting the post earlier.

The Avalanche responded on a power play later in the period when Rantanen’s pass went in off Toronto defenceman Jake McCabe for his 44th.

Rantanen’s 44 goals are the most by a Finnish-born player since Teemu Selanne scored 48 times back in 2006-07.

Georgiev matched his Russian counterpart at the other end by denying Rielly on a power play and Calle Jarnkrok from in close to keep things even through 40 minutes.

After the Leafs killed two penalties early in the third, William Nylander and Auston Matthews had a good chance on Georgiev.

Samsonov then denied Evan Rodrigues from the slot with his blocker to keep things even through regulation.

Luke Schenn returned to Scotiabank Arena as a member of the Leafs for the first time in more than a decade.

Acquired from Vancouver prior to the trade deadline, the veteran defenceman rejoined the club after his wife recently gave birth to the couple’s third child.

The Leafs selected Schenn, who didn’t dress against Colorado, with the fifth overall pick in 2008 before trading him to Philadelphia in 2012.

“Coming into this dressing room, it’s surreal,” the 33-year-old said Wednesday morning. “You appreciate what it means to play in Toronto, but not to the extent I do now.”

Lehkonen out at least 4 weeks

Artturi Lehkonen will be out at least four weeks with a broken finger suffered in Colorado’s 8-4 victory over Montreal on Monday, adding to the club’s season-long injury misery.

The gritty winger was scheduled to have surgery Wednesday in Colorado.

“One of our identity guys,” Bednar said. “One of the hardest-working guys on the ice in every single game.”

The Avalanche face the Senators in Ottawa on Thursday, while the Maple Leafs host the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.