Foligno, Jenner lead Blue Jackets over Leafs
COLUMBUS 5, TORONTO 2
— Nick Foligno and Boone Jenner each scored a goal, backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo made 31 saves and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Wednesday night.
Josh Anderson, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Matt Calvert also scored, and Alexander Wennberg, Zach Werenski and Seth Jones had a pair of assists each for the Blue Jackets. Columbus moved into a tie with Pittsburgh for second place in the Metropolitan Division 2 days before the Penguins visit Nationwide Arena.
Nazem Kadri scored both goals for Toronto, and Curtis McElhinney blocked 30 shots — McElhinney was waived by the Blue Jackets earlier this season after backing up Sergei Bobrovsky the past few seasons. Josh Leivo assisted on both goals for the Maple Leafs, who squandered a chance to move ahead of Ottawa and Boston for second place in the Atlantic Division.
Anderson started the scoring by poking in a rebound from the blue paint 4:30 into the game. The call was delayed while officials looked at the video replay to make sure McElhinney wasn’t pushed out of the way by a Columbus player. It was Anderson’s 11th goal of the season and his first in 15 games.
Later in the first period, Jenner scored by pushing in the rebound from a shot by Werenski.
Bjorkstrand got a breakaway from just inside the blue line after a steal by Brandon Saad and scored 1:32 into the second. Bjorkstrand was called up from Cleveland in the American Hockey League on Tuesday to replace Scott Hartnell, who was injured in Monday’s game against the New York Rangers.
Foligno scored on a power play midway through the second. Werenski launched a wrist shot from the high slot that glanced off Foligno’s thigh on the way in. Foligno got credit for the goal, and Werenski his second assist of the game. The Blue Jackets, who led the NHL in power-play percentage for much of the season, scored with a man advantage for the first time in 10 games, ending an 0-for-16 drought.