Black and Blue: Leafs Win Physical Matchup Against the Blue Jackets

Wednesday night the Toronto Maple Leafs were involved in a physical battle at Nationwide Arena against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The game was littered with multiple scrums, a game-misconduct, and an angry John Tortorella, but above all the Leafs walked away 5-2 victors and current holders of the 3rd spot in the Atlantic Division.

The third period started with the Maple Leafs up 3-2 due to William Nylander's go ahead breakaway goal in the 2nd. The first minute of the third period however, saw the physicality which was on display throughout Wednesday night reach its peak as Roman Polak without hesitation hit Blue Jackets forward Oliver Bjorkstrand from behind along the boards of the Leafs zone. The result of the hit was a 5-minute penalty and a game-misconduct. Despite the discipline handed to Polak, Columbus Head Coach John Tortorella was still infuriated at what seemed to be how the Officials had allowed the game to reach this point as the referee's were very lenient in the way they officiated the game up to that point. Nonetheless, the Maple Leafs lead was about to be put to it's biggest test of the night.

The Columbus Blue Jackets who possess the 8th best Powerplay in the NHL struggled mightily with the man-advantage. Much of the Jackets struggle was due to their adamancy of dumping the puck in and chasing after it. The Maple Leafs did an excellent job of beating Columbus to the puck and clearing it out of the zone. By the time the penalty expired Columbus had only mustered one shot on goal. Columbus' best chance to get back in this game had gotten away from them.

Later in the third period the Maple Leafs would seal the game as Leo Komarov's initial point shot defledced off of Blue Jackets netminder Joonas Korpisalo's pad and onto the stick of Nazem Kadri who placed the rebound into the yawning cage for his second point of the night. Nikita Zaitsev would go on to add an empty netter and the Maple Leafs would walk away with an impressive 5-2 win.

The contest between a pair of teams who don't play each other all that often was very physical and emotional. With the regular season winding down, the two-points at stake were extremely valuable to both squads. The Blue Jackets continue to compete in the Triple Threat which the Metropolitan Division has emerged to be, and The Maple Leafs who want to avoid playing the winner of the Mega Metropolitan Division needed the win to vault into the 3rd spot in the Atlantic Division. With the stakes high for both teams, the pressures both teams faced turned into very intense play early in the matchup. Leaf players Eric Fehr and Connor Carrick laid a pair of big collisions early in the matchup, with Carrick's hit resulting in an ensuing scrum. This type of play would carry throughout the battle.

The most impressive Leaf on the ice was Nazem Kadri in Wednesday night's duel. Kadri's strong forecheck led to the Blue Jackets turning the puck over in their own zone, which was immediately followed by Kadri setting up Leo Komarov for the game's first goal within the first 10 minutes in the period.

The Blue Jackets loss may be due in credit to the team looking ahead to their matchup tomorrow night against the NHL leading Washington Capitals, the team they are looking to hunt down for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. Their lineup decisions were evident of this as the Jackets decided to start backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo tonight instead of sure to be Vezina candidate Sergei Bobrovsky. Columbus failed to pick up the two-points tonight which makes their matchup against the Caps on Thursday night increasingly vital in their hopes to win their division.

Toronto's win comes see's the teams record improve to 6-1-1 in their last 8 games. The Maple Leafs are heating up at just the right time as the Bruins appear to be slipping back to earth after their red hot start with new Head Coach Bruce Cassidy. The Leafs to the delight of many, control their own destiny, and if their play of late can continue till the 2016-2017 Regular Season expires, their may just be some extra hockey on the horizon.

*** Next Toronto Maple Leafs Game

vs. New Jersey Devils, Thursday, March 23rd, 2017 (@7:30PM)