Leafs Win Second Straight Under New Bench Boss.

It was a nail biter, but the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-3, giving the team their second straight win.

"Wins in general are important," said Leaf's head coach, Sheldon Keefe after the game.

"I like that we persevered,"

Just 31 seconds into the game, Nathan McKinnon scored to put the Avalanche ahead 1-0.

Toronto didn't give up, though.

Nicholas Shore tied the game at 9:49 of the first period.

Toronto went ahead 2-1 when Auston Matthews scored his 16th goal of the season at 10:56.

Tyson Barrie scored his second goal of the year at 13:22.

Kasperi Kapanen scored on a break away at 17:36 to put the Leafs ahead 4-1.

It seemed as if the Leafs had the game under control.

Colorado, however, played hard in the second and third periods.

The Leafs seemed to lose their spark.

"We just looked like a tired team," said Keefe.

Andre Burakosky scored on the power play at 10:21 of the second period.

Valeri Nichuskin closed the gap to 4-3 at 6:54 of the third period.

Thankfully, Zach Hyman scored an empty-netter for Toronto with just a second to go in the game.

Matthews and Barrie had two points.

Tyson Barrie

Auston Matthews

Toronto's goalie, Frederik Andersen, was crucial to his team last night, stopping the Avs. from tying the game, especially, with the extra attacker.

Andersen stopped 34 shots last night.

Colorado's Nazem Kadri had two assists.

The Leafs are off for three nights.

Toronto is in Detroit on Wednesday night to take on the Red Wings.