Maple Leafs vs Avalanche is the second stop on Toronto's first western trip of the season, two nights after a game in Las Vegas. The puck drops at 7 p.m. Eastern (23:00 UTC) on Saturday, October 10, at Ball Arena in Denver, and the two clubs arrive from very different places. Colorado finished last season with more points than any other team in the NHL. Toronto finished 28th out of 32 and missed the playoffs. Early this season, Toronto has five points from five games and Colorado six from four.
Maple Leafs vs Avalanche start time and where it airs
ESPN's listing for the game has NHL Network as the national channel in the United States and Altitude Sports as Colorado's home broadcaster. Those are the only two outlets the listing names. The game is in Denver, so the Mountain clock reads 5 p.m. when the puck drops. Here is the same start across a few zones, worked out from the UTC time:
| Zone | Start |
|---|---|
| Eastern (Toronto, New York) | Saturday 7:00 p.m. EDT |
| Mountain (Denver) | Saturday 5:00 p.m. MDT |
| Pacific (Los Angeles) | Saturday 4:00 p.m. PDT |
| UTC | Saturday 23:00 |
| UK (London) | Sunday 12:00 a.m. BST |
The NHL schedule page shows every start on your own clock, so you don't have to do the conversion yourself. The game also has its own Leafs at Avalanche page.
Toronto: five games, five one-goal finishes
Every game Toronto has played this season has been settled by a single goal. The Leafs opened at Scotiabank Arena on September 29 and lost 3-2 to Montreal. They beat the Islanders 2-1 the next night, lost 3-2 to Ottawa on October 3, and needed overtime to get past Nashville 5-4 on October 6. Then they flew west and lost 4-3 in a shootout at Vegas on Thursday night.
That adds up to a 2-2-1 record and five points. Toronto has scored 14 goals and allowed 15, which works out to 2.8 for and 3.0 against per game. Four of the five games were at home, so Saturday is only the second road game of the year. ESPN's standings listed the Leafs fifth in the Atlantic Division on Friday.
William Nylander leads the team with three goals and six points. Auston Matthews leads the team in assists with four.
Colorado: 23 goals in four games
The Avalanche have scored at least six goals in three of their four games. They beat Los Angeles 8-4 in the home opener, then St. Louis 6-1. A 3-2 loss at Winnipeg on October 7 was the only blip, and they answered it with a 7-3 win in Calgary on Thursday. That is 23 goals for and 11 against, or 5.75 scored per game. Colorado is 3-1-0, 2-0-0 at Ball Arena, and ESPN listed it second in the Central Division on Friday, level on points with Utah.
Nathan MacKinnon has three goals and five assists, eight points in four games. Both teams played on Thursday, so neither side has a rest advantage.
Last season: one team at the top, one near the bottom
The 2025-26 standings show how far apart the two teams finished. Colorado went 55-16-11 for 121 points, eight clear of Carolina, the next-best team. The Avalanche scored 302 goals and gave up 203, a difference of +99. In the playoffs they swept Los Angeles, beat Minnesota in five games, and were then swept by Vegas in the Western Conference final.
Toronto went 32-36-14 for 78 points, 43 fewer than Colorado. The Leafs scored 253 and allowed 299, a difference of -46, and finished the regular season with seven straight losses.
| 2025-26 | Record | Points | Goals for | Goals against | Per game (for/against) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 55-16-11 | 121 | 302 | 203 | 3.68 / 2.48 |
| Toronto | 32-36-14 | 78 | 253 | 299 | 3.09 / 3.65 |
The two meetings last season split. On Monday, January 12, Toronto won 4-3 in overtime at Ball Arena, a 10 p.m. Eastern start. Colorado won the return game 4-1 in Toronto on Sunday afternoon, January 25.
Home and away splits from last season point the same way. Colorado went 26-9-6 at Ball Arena. Toronto went 14-21-6 on the road, and one of those 14 road wins was the overtime game in Denver. This season's Leafs have one road game so far, the shootout loss in Las Vegas, which counts as a point.
This season's form side by side
| Date | Toronto | Colorado |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 29-30 | L 2-3 vs MTL, W 2-1 vs NYI | W 8-4 vs LA (Sep 30) |
| Oct 3 | L 2-3 vs OTT | W 6-1 vs STL |
| Oct 6-7 | W 5-4 OT vs NSH | L 2-3 at WPG |
| Oct 8 | L 3-4 SO at VGK | W 7-3 at CGY |
| Total | 2-2-1, 14 GF, 15 GA | 3-1-0, 23 GF, 11 GA |
Dates in the table are the night each game was played in North America. Colorado's home opener and Toronto's second game fell on the same evening.
What comes after Saturday
Neither team has long to think about this one. Toronto heads on to Salt Lake City for a game against Utah on Tuesday, October 13, at 9 p.m. Eastern (01:00 UTC Wednesday), and then goes home to face Buffalo on October 15. Colorado plays Dallas twice in two nights: in Dallas on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. Eastern (00:30 UTC Wednesday) and back at Ball Arena on Wednesday at the same time.
The second and last regular-season meeting between these two is on Tuesday, November 10, in Toronto, at 7 p.m. Eastern (00:00 UTC November 11). The clocks will have changed by then, so Toronto will be on EST.
Following the game
The game page opens on Saturday with the start time on your clock, and the NHL tab has the rest of the weekend, 14 games on Saturday alone. If you are still getting used to the new 84-game format and the divisions, the NHL 2026-27 season guide covers it. The home schedule lists every sport for the day.
