Power-play goals costly as Avs drop 8th straight

Colorado falls to 10-11-5 at the Pepsi Center with loss to Toronto

Early in the second period Tuesday night, Avalanche forward J.T. Compher was assessed a double-minor penalty for cross checking. Compher was prepared to spend the entire four minutes in the sin bin as his teammates killed off the disadvantage. Instead, he was released after just 49 seconds.

That’s how quickly the Toronto Maple Leafs scored two power-play goals to break open what was a tight game at the Pepsi Center. The visitors broke a 1-1 tie earlier in the second period with a power-play goal and coasted to a 5-2 victory to extend the Avs’ losing streak to eight games.

Toronto was 3-of-5 on the power play and had committed just one penalty through two periods, when it led 4-1 despite being outshot 24-12 at even strength. Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov was replaced by Philipp Grubauer after allowing four goals on 17 shots.

“We gave up three power-play goals. That’s why we lost. Bottom line,” Avs defenseman Erik Johnson said. “Take a double-minor and give up three like that, it’s going to be tough to win.”

He added: “We were having a good game, 5-on-5. And then bang, bang, bang.”

The turnover-prone Avalanche, which had lost its previous three games in overtime, fell to 10-11-5 at home, where it tied a franchise record with 28 victories last season. The Avs failed to contain Toronto forwards Nazem Kadri and Kasper Kapanen,

Andy Cross, The Denver Post Philipp Grubauer skates out of his crease to confront charging Toronto Maple Leafs right wing William Nylander, who couldn't get the puck past the Avalanche goaltender during the second period Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center.