Toronto Maple Leafs at Columbus Blue Jackets
April 8, 2015 – 7:30 pm EDT
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, Ohio
Radio – WBNS 97.1 FM – TV – Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent’s Blog: Pension Plan Puppets
The Jackets have lost the first two to the Leafs–as I noted in my schedule/record breakdown–but it’s fair to say that those were not THESE Leafs. Since the last time the two clubs have met, here are the respective records (not including that second game):
Columbus – 21-17-2
Toronto – 8-26-4
THAT is called “tanking” folks. Holy crap.
Suffice it to say, neither team is the same as they were back in January when they last played. The Jackets are finally healthy and resembling the team we all thought they could be. The Leafs are… participating in hockey games.
For Columbus, still no Fedor Tyutin in the lineup, though Ryan Murray is back. Kevin Connauton will sit in lieu of Murray, and Justin Falk remains with Dalton Prout on the bottom pairing.
For the Leafs, no internet site that I can find seems to know who will be playing center for them on their third line. That, in a way, is emblematic of the back half of their season.
Enjoy!
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(39-35-5, 83 Points; 6th division, 12th conference)
| Boone Jenner | Ryan Johansen | Cam Atkinson |
| Scott Hartnell | Alexander Wennberg | Marko Dano |
| Brandon Dubinsky | Artem Anisimov | Nick Foligno |
| Matt Calvert | Mark Letestu | Jeremy Morin |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Ryan Murray | Cody Goloubef |
| Justin Falk | Dalton Prout |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Curtis McElhinney |
Toronto Maple Leafs
(30-43-7, 67 Points; 7th Division, 15th Conference)
| James van Riemsdyk | Tyler Bozak | Phil Kessel |
| Joakim Lindstrom | Nazem Kadri | Richard Panik |
| Leo Komarov | Joffrey Lupul | |
| David Booth | Zach Sill | Casey Bailey |
| Eric Brewer | Dion Phaneuf |
| Jake Gardiner | Morgan Rielly |
| Tim Erixon | Andrew MacWilliam |
| James Reimer |
| Jonathan Bernier |
Season Series
10/31/14 – Toronto 4 at Columbus 1
01/09/15 – Columbus 2 at Toronto 5
04/08/15 – Toronto at Columbus
Head to Head Stats
| Toronto | Columbus | |
| 2.54 (24) | GPG | 2.71 (17) |
| 3.11 (26) | GAPG | 3.06 (25) |
| 16.4% (25) | PP% | 21.4% (6) |
| 80.5% (21) | PK% | 79.9% (24) |
| James van Riemsdyk, 27 | G leader | Nick Foligno, 30 |
| Phil Kessel, 35 | A leader | Ryan Johansen, 43 |
| Phil Kessel, 59 | Pts leader | Nick Foligno, 71 |
| Dion Phaneuf, 106 | PIM leader | Jared Boll, 109 |
| 8-26-6 | Road/Home | 17-20-2 |
| 3-6-1 | Last 10 | 9-0-1 |
| 4/5 vs. Ottawa, W 3-2 (SO) | Last Game | 4/6 @ NY Rangers, L 4-3 (OT) |