For the third time in 15 nights, the Columbus Blue Jackets faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs. And with Ohio State playing in the Cotton Bowl, it was an honorary (honourary?) home game for hockey’s biggest fanbase. Here we go.
First Period
The Blue Jackets did not get off on a great foot, as Toronto would come out flying. Just four minutes in, Mitch Marner would jab home a broken play, as a Morgan Rielly shot went off Jake Bean’s foot. Not ideal.
MAPLE LEAFS GOAL – Mitch Marner from Morgan Rielly – 4:14 1st Period
The Leafs would continue to pressure for the first half of the period, and it took until nearly 12 minutes in for the Jackets to find something resembling offense. Timothy Liljegren lost an edge after skating out of a puck battle, and after a quick give-and-turn with Bean, Cole Sillinger found the back of the net for his fourth of the year. Tie game.
BLUE JACKETS GOAL – Cole Sillinger from Jake Bean – 11:17 1st Period
The tie wouldn’t last long, however, as Auston Matthews remains very good at this hockey thing.
MAPLE LEAFS GOAL – Auston Matthews from Mitch Marner – 12:55 1st Period
After all the scoring, the game would even out for a bit, though the Leafs maintained a slight edge. The 3rd and 4th lines would have a fun stretch of end-to-end action late, though that was immediately followed by Dmitri Voronkov taking an interference penalty. It was a weak call, but technically correct. The Jackets would be able to kill the penalty and get to intermission just down one.
Second Period
If there wasn’t enough goals in the First for you, the Second Period doubled it! Spencer Martin entered the game to begin the period, with Elvis bowing out due to illness. Nick Robertson started it off for the Leafs 95 seconds in, to which Brendan Gaunce responded with his first of the season.
MAPLE LEAFS GOAL – Nick Robertson from Timothy Liljegren and Max Domi – 1:35 2nd Period
BLUE JACKETS GOAL – Brendan Gaunce from Alexandre Texier and Damon Severson – 3:20 2nd Period
After a few more minutes of Leafs dominance, the teams would trade goals again. First, William Nylander would make it 4-2 after the CBJ got caught with six guys on the ice. Then, Cole Sillinger and Calle Jarnkrok roughing calls coupled with a Nylander hook would result in a 4-on-3 poweplay for the Jackets, which Dmitri Voronkov would take advantage of.
MAPLE LEAFS POWERPLAY GOAL – William Nylander from Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly – 9:42 2nd Period
BLUE JACKETS 4-ON-3 POWERPLAY GOAL – Dmitri Voronkov from Johnny Gaudreau and Ivan Provorov – 11:05 2nd Period
Incredibly, the Blue Jackets would tie the game less than two minutes later. Emil Bemstrom would win a puck battle behind the net, and find Kent Johnson wide open in the slot. One deke later it was 4-4.
BLUE JACKETS GOAL – Kent Johnson from Emil Bemstrom – 12:43 2nd Period
Despite the incredible comeback, make no mistake: The Toronto Maple Leafs were in control of this game. They’d end the Second Period up on the shot clock 26-11, and leading unbloacked shot attempts 31-15. They’d be rewarded with another powerplay goal, this time thanks to a high sticking call on Texier. John Tavares would be the last of the Big Four on the board with his tip-in. The Leafs would go to break with a 5-4 lead.
MAPLE LEAFS POWERPLAY GOAL – John Tavares from William Nylander and Morgan Rielly – 19:05 2nd Period
Third Period
WE SIGNED JOHNNY HOCKEY! WE DRAFTED ADAM FANTILLI! LET’S FRE-
Uhm, right, professionalism. So we sucked this period.
Damon Severson started the period with a dumb, post-whistle, retaliation penalty. The Jackets would kill the first minute, before Marner got nabbed for tripping, making it 4-on-4. Unsurprisingly, the abbreviated Powerplay was not good.
It was then time for the Blue Jackets to mount a comeback. It wasn’t pretty, and the Leafs controlled for long stretches of the period, but Adam Fantilli would ensure the game went to extras.
BLUE JACKETS GOAL – Adam Fantilli from Johnny Gaudreau – 13:46 3rd Period
Or, at least, he’d do as much as he could to ensure overtime. Though CBJ led third period shots were 8-7 and unblocked attempts 13-10, the Jackets absolutely turtled for the last six minutes of the third. But somehow, unlike so many times this season, the Jackets got to overtime.
Overtime
The overtime would go back-and-forth, though the Blue Jackets played much better than in New Jersey on Tuesday. In part due to playing the kids; Gaudreau-Danforth-Severson led off the extra period, but were followed by Fantilli-Chinkhov-Provorov and Johnson-Marchenko-Bean. Fantilli would make another fantastic play, as Chinny got him the puck on a 2-on-1 and Mo almost walked the puck around Samsonov. There’d be a faceoff 2:07 to play, and one faceoff win, point shot, and Johnny Hockey deke, the Jackets would leave NWA with a win.
BLUE JACKETS OVERTIME GOAL – Johnny Gaudreau from Damon Severson and Justin Danforth – 2:56 Overtime
While they were outplayed for much of the game, Columbus showed incredible mental fortitude in this one, which has been hard to come by this season. The Jackets came back from deficits of 1-0, 4-2, and 5-4 tonight. Incredibly refreshing after a year full of chokes and collapses when the situation is reversed.
Back at it tomorrow in Buffalo, at a special 5:00 start.