Blake Comeau scored the game-winning goal with 7:43 remaining to help the Colorado Avalanche win their 10th consecutive game with a 4-2 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre on Monday.
The Avalanche (27-16-3) also won their seventh straight game in regulation. They now have 57 points on the year and sit just two points behind St. Louis for third place in the Central Division.
Colorado has three games in hand over St. Louis and two games in hand over Dallas, which is one point ahead of Colorado for fourth place.
With the game tied 2-2, Comeau redirected a shot from Carl Soderberg past Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead.
Gabriel Landeskog added an insurance empty-net goal with 54 seconds remaining for Colorado, which opened up a six-game road trip.
The Avalanche will play at Montreal on Tuesday.
Colorado opened the scoring 2:19 into the game on a goal by Gabriel Bourque, who banged home a rebound off of a shot by Tyson Jost.
The Maple Leafs then scored twice in the second to take a 2-1 lead. The first goal came from Patrick Marleau just 19 seconds in the second period and the second came from Auston Matthews with 10:43 remaining in the period.
Jonathan Bernier made 29 saves in goal for Colorado.
Andersen made 23 saves for Toronto (26-18-5), which stayed at 57 points and still is in good shape for a playoff spot with the All-Star break looming.
The Maple Leafs are 12 points ahead of Detroit for the third and final playoff spot out of the Atlantic Division.
Toronto will now hit the road for its final two games before the All-Star break at Chicago on Wednesday and at Dallas on Thursday.
--Field Level Media
Colorado | Toronto | |
Gabriel Bourque 1 | Points | Patrick Marleau 1 |
Gabriel Bourque 1 | Goals | Patrick Marleau 1 |
J.T. Compher 1 | Assists | Andreas Borgman 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Jonathan Bernier .935 | Save Percentage | Frederik Andersen .885 |
Jonathan Bernier 29 | Saves | Frederik Andersen 23 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Colorado | 27 | 4 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 6 | 23 |
Toronto | 31 | 2 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 40 |