Valeri Nichushkin scored a short-handed goal in the third period to break a tie and the visiting Colorado Avalanche went on to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Nathan MacKinnon added a goal and an assist and Joonas Donskoi also scored a goal for the Avalanche, who won their fourth game in a row and their ninth in the past 12 games.

Philipp Grubauer made 38 saves for Colorado.

Zach Hyman scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost two in a row and have won four of seven under new coach Sheldon Keefe.

Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen, who also played Tuesday in the loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, made 27 saves.

The Avalanche had the first power play of the game when Dmytro Timashov was penalized for hooking at 10:15 of the second period. Colorado capitalized on the opportunity when MacKinnon rifled a shot from the left circle to the upper right corner 37 seconds later for his 18th goal of the season. Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar earned assists.

Hyman scored his third goal of the season on a deflection at 12:42 of the second. Alex Kerfoot and Cody Ceci earned the assists.

Toronto's Jake Muzzin took a double-minor penalty for high-sticking 16 seconds into the third period.

The Maple Leafs killed off the penalties before going on their own power play when J.T. Compher was called for interference at 4:44 of the third. Colorado responded with a short-handed goal at 6:40. Nichushkin stole the puck after a mix-up between two Toronto players at the Colorado blue line to score his third goal of the season on a breakaway.

The Maple Leafs took out Andersen for an extra attacker with more than two minutes to play in the third period, and Donskoi potted his 12th goal of the season into the empty net at 18:41.

--Field Level Media