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Character, gutsy, determined.

That sums up the Maple Leafs’ 6-3 victory in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

Teams with a full lineup have enough trouble beating the Avs, a 2026-27 Stanley Cup favourite.

Without centre John Tavares and playing nearly a full game without top defenceman Chris Tanev, the Leafs rode a sublime performance by William Nylander to beat the Avs at Ball Arena.

“We did a good job weathering the storm,” Leafs captain Auston Matthews told media in Denver after the game. “Bob (Sergei Bobrovsky) came up with some huge saves, the power play came through and the PK was solid.

“Bend don’t break, just grind out a win and I thought we did that.”

Tanev departed the game midway through the first period with an upper-body injury.

Leafs coach Jim Hiller told media that he didn’t have an update on Tanev’s status.

Tavares had returned in Toronto for the birth of his son.

Nylander had two goals and three assists to tie his career-high for one game with five points, while Matthews had two goals, including an empty-netter, and two assists.

Bobrovsky made 30 saves for his first win with Toronto.

Three takeaways from the win that improved the Leafs record to 3-2-1:

NYLANDER MAKES A STATEMENT

If that wasn’t Nylander’s best game with the Leafs, we would be hard-pressed to remember one in which he had a greater impact.

Especially in the second period, when he had two goals and assisted on another by Easton Cowan, Nylander had the puck on a string, cutting and shifting to elude Avs defenders at every turn.

In doing so, Nylander moved up the Leafs’ franchise goals list. He now has 297 goals with Toronto, passing team legends Frank Mahovlich and George Armstrong (296 each) to move into seventh on the franchise list. Next in Nylander’s sights is Rick Vaive, who is sixth with 299 goals.

The previous time Nylander had five points in one game was in December 2022 against the Calgary Flames. It was the sixth time in his National Hockey League career that Nylander had at least four points in one game.

Keep in mind that Nylander had the performance against one of the top outfits in the NHL. This wasn’t the Calgary Flames or Philadelphia Flyers that Nylander toyed with throughout the night.

Nylander’s charge helped hold off what was looking like a big night for Colorado superstar Nathan MacKinnon. A pair of MacKinnon goals in the first period didn’t matter in the end. No, the Leafs could not handle MacKinnon’s speed and strength. But the Avs had no answer for Nylander’s slick smarts.

“I was just going out there playing,” Nylander said in his usual understated manner. “I got some really nice passes to be able to score those two goals.”

Nylander topped the 700-point milestone in his NHL career, coming out of the game with 702 in 756 career games. He is the third Swede to hit 700 points for the Leafs, joining Mats Sundin (987 points) and Borje Salming (768 points).

HOPE THAT TANEV’S INJURY IS NOT SERIOUS

Tanev left after what appeared to be a fairly routine bumping with Avs forward Artturi Lehkonen in front of the Toronto net. Tanev was hunched over as he made his way to the Leafs bench and then the dressing room.

Tanev’s presence on the blue line is a basic requirement for the Leafs to have a true shot at success. As their best defenceman, Tanev has provided poise and defensive smarts since being acquired by the Leafs in the summer of 2024.

We witnessed last season what can happen when Tanev is out: He played in just 11 games because of injuries, and it was not a coincidence that Toronto missed the playoffs.

If Tanev is on the sideline for the long term, it’s a massive blow to club’s blue-line corps.

If a defenceman is required to be recalled from the Toronto Marlies, one of veterans Philippe Myers, Dakota Mermis or Marshall Rifai could get the nod for the short term. We would think that Ben Danford, still a rookie in the American Hockey League after he helped the Toronto Marlies win the Calder Cup last spring, needs more seasoning before getting that call.

Furthermore, if Tanev is out for a while, general manager John Chayka won’t have much choice but to seek a defenceman via trade.

He might have been doing so already.

The Leafs weren’t caught shorthanded, numbers-wise, on defence as Hiller dressed seven D-men and 11 forwards.

In his Toronto debut, defenceman Nick Blankenburg opened the scoring at 3:03 of the first period, on his first shift.

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