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The Toronto Maple Leafs 6-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Thursday marked the first time this season that the club has won consecutive road games.
On Friday, the Leafs will look to achieve another feat against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena that they have been unable to accomplish all season; winning the back end of games on consecutive nights.
Toronto has 18 back-to-back games this year and so far they are 0-5-1, with nine goals for and 23 goals against.
“Going into the (Christmas) break, you want to go in on a positive note.… Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said in Glendale on Friday. “Back-to-back on the road, the road has been tough for us, were getting better on the road, but here’s a big opportunity tonight.…
The Leafs faced the NHL’s last place club for the second time in 11 days, but did not run up against Semyon Varlamov doing his best Vladislav Tretiak imitation. After stopping 51 shots in a 3-1 Colorado win at Air Canada Center on December 11, Toronto jumped all over the struggling Avs and Varlamov, scoring five times before the game had reached it’s halfway point.
Auston Matthews scores his 16th goal of the season, Leafs up 1-0 pic.twitter.com/7iFWbBmYqu
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) December 23, 2016
Auston Matthews, Connor Brown, Roman Polak, James van Riemsdyk, Frederik Gauthier and Nazem Kadri scored for the Leafs and Frederik Andersen made 38 saves for his 13th victory of the season.
1st!
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 23, 2016
Frederik Gauthier's first NHL goal.#TMLtalk #StandWitness pic.twitter.com/xmFdsKxJ8h
It was a night of firsts for a pair of Leafs, as Gauthier scored his first NHL goal on a feed from fellow rookie Mitch Marner and Andersen registered his first shutout with the Blue and White.
Auston Matthews returns home. Check out the cover of today's newspaper: pic.twitter.com/WpyjXaTHNw
— Sarah McLellan (@azc_mclellan) December 23, 2016
Friday’s contest in Glendale has been highlighted on the schedule since it was released last summer, as Matthews (a native of Scottsdale, AZ) returns home as an NHL player for the first time.
“(Arizona) is where I grew up, this is where I live. It’s awfully special coming back here and playing a team you grew up watching.… Matthews said on Friday. “I’m sure it will be pretty emotional (for my parents). They’ve been to Toronto a few times for games. I know for my grandparents, this will be the first time they see me play in the NHL, so it’s going to be pretty great.…
The Leafs will not make any lineup changes, as Josh Leivo and Frank Corrado will sit. Babcock changed his plans to play rookie Antoine Bibeau in one of the two pre-Christmas road games and will go with Andersen once again on Friday. The big Dane started on consecutive nights once this season and played well in a 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 12.
“(Matthews) is a kid that’s a big part of our team and has a chance to be a big part of our franchise.…Babcock said. “He’s a special kid, the guys like him and he plays hard for us. We want him to walk out of here proud. You can’t control the outcome, but you can control your preparation.…
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