Leafs shovel past Avalanche

Tyson Barrie said he wasn’t sure how he’d feel. Coming back to play in the only professional home he had ever known before a summer trade to the Maple Leafs, the Avalanche’s top-scoring defenceman of all time said he was expecting to feel something in his first game as a visitor at the Pepsi Center.

“I don’t know if I’ll get emotional or just be happy, or what,” said Barrie.

Without presuming too much, it’s safe to assume Barrie was over the moon about his Saturday night reunion with the franchise that drafted him. And the same goes for his road-tripping teammates on the Leafs, who beat the Avalanche 5-3 to register their second straight win since Sheldon Keefe replaced Mike Babcock as head coach Wednesday.

Hanging their heads through the six-game losing streak that ended Babcock’s tenure, they transformed themselves into a swaggering, smiling scoring machine on Saturday — albeit for approximately eight brilliant minutes of the first period, when they scored four goals and chased Philipp Grubauer, who was relieved by Pavel Francouz.

Typical avalanche

Beyond that flurry, there was plenty that wasn’t perfect — say, most of the final two periods. There was, at times, a lot that was reminiscent of the Babcock era, including long stretches with the Leafs hemmed in their end as the Avalanche threatened. The final 2:37 of regulation, with the Colorado goaltender out and the Leafs up 4-3 and gasping for air as the Avalanche piled on the pressure, was a bullet dodged. Zach Hyman’s empty-net goal at the buzzer punctuated the victory.

But Barrie’s best moment was a high point. He scored his second goal in as many games by using his promotion to Toronto’s first power-play unit remarkably efficiently. It took just 22 seconds into Toronto’s first-period man advantage for Barrie to one-time a puck past Philipp Grubauer. Toronto’s special teams haven’t shown that kind of authoritative oomph very often this season.

“I’m over there to be a shooter,” Barrie said before the game, speaking of his new position on the power play’s left flank. “We’ve got a lot of guys who have a lot of patience and move the puck well. So I’m going to try and be an option and take shots when they’re available.”

Barrie’s goal was one of a quartet of unanswered first-period markers. The visitors got down 1-0 after Frederik Andersen whiffed on a long Nathan MacKinnon shot 31 seconds into the proceedings. But after a sluggish start, the Leafs found steam. 

As for sustaining that steam, the Leafs were outshot 13-3 in the second period, when all the aggressive playmaking of the first period’s latter half gave away to a passive defensive shell. By the midpoint of the third period, with the Maple Leafs in full retreat, it was 4-3. 

But the Leafs hung on. 

And on a night when Barrie received a lengthy video tribute, after which the bulk of the crowd offered a short standing ovation, the Maple Leafs defenceman and the rest of his rejuvenated team left happy.

“Not that there’s any ill will with this team. But in front of all the familiar faces, it’s nice to get one,” Barrie said. “It’s been a great day. Kind of everything I could hope for.”

 Barrie wasn’t the only Leaf making a homecoming of sorts. Fourth-line winger Nick Shore, a healthy scratch in Thursday’s win in Arizona, replaced Nic Petan in the lineup because Keefe said it was important for Shore, a Denver native, to play in front of family and friends. Shore responded with Toronto’s first goal, banging in a great pass from Pierre Engvall.

Nazem Kadri, who assisted on two goals in his first game against his old team, hit a second-period post after a nifty bit of dangling set him free in front. Auston Matthews scored his second road goal in as many games, after having one in his previous 10. “Kind of an ugly one for us tonight,” he said. “But a really important two points.

Tyson gets hand shakes all round

 ” The Leafs didn’t register their first shot on goal until the game was more than six minutes old. Barrie said he heard from opponents over the years that Denver’s mile-high altitude can be “murder” on the visitors’ wind. It certainly took time for Toronto to find theirs. Toronto was outshot 29-12 in the final two periods. Keefe said the Leafs, four games into a road trip, “looked like a tired team out there.”

 But the coach said he was impressed with his team’s resilience. So was I . They hung on, and prevailed. Next stop Motown Wednesday night.

Let's hope they can bring their A game at game time.