TORONTO — Brock Nelson scored twice in a 1:12 span in the first period and sealed his fifth career hat trick with an empty-netter in the Colorado Avalanche’s 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Jack Drury also scored to help NHL-leading Colorado improve to 35-6-9. MacKenzie Blackwood made 32 saves.<\/p>\n
Colorado became the fourth team in NHL history with six or fewer regulation losses through 50 games, joining the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers (35-3-12), 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens (38-5-7) and 1975-76 Canadiens (36-6-8).<\/p>\n
The last team with at least 77 points through 50 contests was the 2022-23 Boston Bruins (38-7-5), who went on to set the NHL record for wins in a season with 65.<\/p>\n
Max Domi had a late power-play goal for Toronto, and Joseph Woll stopped 33 shots. The Maple Leafs are 24-19-9.<\/p>\n
The Maple Leafs had a 4-3 overtime victory in Denver on Jan. 12, but have dropped six of seven (1-4-2), including an ugly 0-3-1 start to their current five-game homestand following an 8-0-2 run.<\/p>\n
Colorado became just the fourth team in NHL history with six or fewer regulation losses through 50 games, joining the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers (35-3-12), 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens (38-5-7) and 1975-76 Canadiens (36-6-8).<\/p>\n
The last team with at least 77 points through 50 contests was the 2022-23 Boston Bruins (38-7-5), who went on to set the NHL record for wins in a season with 65.<\/p>\n
Nelson opened the scoring at 6:19 of the first on a 2 on 1 before adding his second just over a minute later on a sneaky pass off the stick of Artturi Lehkonen from behind Woll\u2019s net. He has 27 goals this season.<\/p>\n
Nelson tied Alex DeBrincat and Kyle Connor \u2014 both with eight \u2014 for the third-most 25-goal seasons among active American players. The list is led by Patrick Kane (11) and Toronto captain Auston Matthews (10).<\/p>\n
Avalanche: At Ottawa on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Maple Leafs: Host Buffalo on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n