Much was made before the game about Adam Fantilli’s first NHL game in his hometown, but it was a BC boy, Kent Johnson, that made the difference in this wild game.
First Period
Toronto had a slight edge in possession early, but the Jackets did a great job getting in the way and keeping them from quality chances. Even Johnny Gaudreau got in on the action with a nifty steal of Auston Matthews in the defensive zone.
The line of Patrik Laine/Cole Sillinger/Kent Johnson felt like a bit of an “island of misfit toys” line on paper, but they made plays in the first period. On this one, Laine got off a shot, and Sillinger successfully battled for the puck in the corner. Johnson recovered it behind the net, and made a no-look pass to Laine in the slot. Great effort by all three forwards, and exactly the kind of play we’ve been waiting for from both Laine and KJ.
That line struck again, despite losing a defensive zone faceoff to the Auston Matthews line. Andrew Peeke pinched along the boards and got the puck to the crease, where Johnson deflected it in.
Through 20 minutes, Toronto lead in shot attempts, 24-17, but the Jackets had an 8-3 edge in high danger shot attempts. Also a 14-11 edge in unblocked shots, meaning 13 blocked shots by Columbus
The Fantilli line was a high event line, with the most minutes and most shots created in the period, but also the most allowed. Sheldon Keefe was pretty consistently matching the Matthews line to this one. Good test for Fantilli, but not one he’s going to succeed at right away.
Second Period
Ugly moment, as Patrik Laine took an awkward fall and crashed into the boards. On replay, it’s clear that William Lagesson tripped him with a slew foot. Unfortunately he only got two minutes for that, as did Cole Sillinger for roughing, for going after Lagesson in defense of Laine.
Fortunately, puck karma paid off. At 4v4, David Jiricek made a great play to control the puck in the slot, and set up Ivan Provorov for a long shot. Justin Danforth recovered behind the net and was able to flip an odd angle shot off of Samsonov.
We couldn’t have a flood of goal-scoring without The Troika getting in on it, could we? Once again, they were standing out for their great puck movement. Yegor Chinakhov expanded the lead to 4-0, but it wasn’t via a patented Yegor Bomb. This one was a point-blank snipe through the legs. That’s 4 goals in last 3 games for Chinny.
Toronto got the first power play of the game after a tripping call on Fantilli, but the PK was stellar. Sean Kuraly, in particular, was impressive on both ends in one long shift.
Back at even strength, Kirill Marchenko drew a holding penalty on Lagesson. The first power play unit was a lineup I love: the Troika, who we know work together, plus Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski, who can hang with them from a playmaking perspective. This unit cycled the puck well, and set up Gaudreau, who paused, shifted, and fired a shot that took an odd but favorable bounce. Remarkably, that was his first power play goal of the season.
The Leafs got booed off the ice by the home crowd at the end of the period.
The Fantilli line was out attempted at this point 8-20, but led in on-ice expected goals 0.75-0.46.
Ask Walter C for the Powerball numbers
“Anyone have a working theory on how they blow a 5 goal lead?”
Walter C, 8:45 p.m. (during the second intermission)
Third Period
William Nylander scored 38 seconds in, with a great assist from Matthews.
That was the first time we got a bad feeling.
John Tavares lost the puck but somehow recovered and passed between Provorov and Danforth. Marner deked Jiricek and Elvis to score. Another skilled goal from elite players.
Late in a long DZ shift, Provorov smashed Marner head-first into the boards. I’m glad to see this penalty called, after all of the controversy from the weekend.
During the kill, Werenski made a long pass to clear the zone, and it appeared that Kuraly was able to get to the puck first for a short-handed chance. Instead, he was called for off-sides. Both Pascal Vincent and Kuraly were furious at the refs for what they viewed as a blown call. You decide:
The faceoff was back in the Columbus zone, and Toronto got the PPG on a long bomb from Jake McCabe:
Now we had a REALLY bad feeling, since the bounces were no longer going our way, and the Leafs were starting to get some home-cooking from the officials.
With 2.5 minutes remaining, the Leafs pulled the goalie, and after a minute of holding them off, in a 30 second stretch Matthews scored twice to tie the game.
Overtime
At long last, we got what we wanted and Vincent gave some of the kids a shot in overtime. Fantilli was the center for the opening faceoff, in a unit with Gaudreau and Werenski. They were mostly on defense, but Werenski made a nice pick pocket move on Jarnkrok and outraced him for a breakaway chance.
Next was an all-Russian unit of Marchenko, Chinakhov, and Provorov.
The third shift featured Johnson along with Danforth and Nick Blankenburg. At one point Blanks switched for Werenski, and then the threesome got a long offensive shift. On a cycle, Johnson got the puck in the right circle and went top shelf for the game winner.
Final Thoughts
Let’s start with some positives. First, the Jackets set a franchise record with 39 blocked shots. OUCH, but props for putting in the effort.
Against a team like Toronto, you know you’re going to need to score, and the Jackets managed 35 shots on goal. That’s just the third time in the last 13 games that they’ve hit the 30 shot mark. They had 41 combined in the previous two games.
Kent Johnson was outstanding. 3 points and a +4 rating in just 14:23. He had an unblocked shot percentage of 75% in all situations.
Elvis Merzlikins hadn’t played since December 5 due to illness. He was stellar under pressure through the first 40 minutes. A few of the goals you’d want to have back, but I’m not going to blame the goalie when he has 43 saves on the night. 3 of the 5 allowed were when Toronto had a man advantage, and you do have to give some credit when most of the goals are coming from elite players like Nylander, Marner, and Matthews.
My biggest criticism of the coaches tonight: why did Alexandre Texier and Emil Bemstrom play under 10 minutes tonight? I understand that the lines had to be shuffled when Laine left the game, but why weren’t those two included in the lines that defended the 6v5? Both are known as solid defensive forwards. If nothing else, put some fresh legs out there. David Jiricek was also stapled to the bench for the final 7 minutes, despite being one of just two defensemen with above 50% shot share in all situations.
It’s really frustrating how mentally soft this team is. They fold at the slightest sign of adversity, and it’s only because of an improbably huge 5-0 lead that they didn’t lose this one in regulation. What’s worse is that such a collapse was so predictable (see Walter C’s comment posted above).
Presented without comment:
Up Next
The Blue Jackets are back home on Saturday night to host the New Jersey Devils.