DENVER (AP) — Michael Bunting had two goals, Auston Matthews and T.J. Brodie scored 24 seconds apart in the second period, and the Toronto Maple Leafs spoiled Nathan MacKinnon’s return with a 6-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche.
Matthews added an assist to his 18th goal, Mitch Marner and Pierre Engvall also scored and Matt Murray stopped 26 shots for Toronto.
MacKinnon missed 10 games with an upper-body injury suffered Dec. 5 against Philadelphia.
His initial timeline was returning next week, but he was able to get back early, finishing with a minus-3 in 22:19 of ice time.
