COLUMBUS FIRES AWAY AGAINST TIRED LEAFS
Blue Jackets strike early and often in posting 5-2 win, writes Rob Longley.
COLUMBUS, OHIO You can be sure there will be times in Mike Babcock’s tenure behind the Toronto Maple Leafs’ bench when he will sweat and fume over the nightt-o-night swings from his hockey team.
Maybe Wednesday’s early calamity in Columbus might be one of those occasions.
A night after they throttled the Islanders 7-1 at home, the Leafs helped loosen the trigger on the Nationwide Arena cannon in a 5-2 loss to the Blue Jackets, a contest that was heading to blowout territory when the home team scored the first four goals of the game.
Finishing off their 13th set of games on back-to-back nights heightened the challenge against a good young Jackets team the Leafs were seeing for the first time this season. But as dominant as the Leafs were at home less than 24 hours earlier, for most of the two periods they were meek in resistance against an opponent far more willing to win battles.
It won’t be cause for panic, though the lack of consistency with the team has certainly become a liability.
“This is what I always say to the guys — don’t get up here, don’t get down here,” Babcock said before the game. “You’re never as good as the media’s telling you, you’re never as bad as the media’s telling you. You’re actually in the middle.”
Babcock won’t think the sky is falling after this one, either, given the way he has managed the team all season. And to their credit, after a listless opening 40 minutes, the Leafs carried the play in the third and at least gave the Jackets a minor scare.
Once again, though, there were concerns beyond the fact that one team was rested and the other wasn’t. The Leafs were sloppy in their own end at times and despite pre-game vows of a big effort in front of backup goalie (and former Jacket) Curtis McElhinney, they were never in this one.
Josh Anderson jammed a puck past McElhinney 4:30 into the game to get it started. The play survived a video review as it appeared the Leafs goaltender had it covered up.
With momentum and fresher legs on their side, the Jackets doubled that lead at 11:15 when Boone Jenner buried a rebound from in tight. The Leafs had their opportunities in the first period as well, but couldn’t beat Columbus backup Joonas Korpisalo.
There was minimal push back in the second period as well with any chance at gaining momentum hindered by four minor penalties. The Jackets connected on the third of those with a Nick Foligno deflection giving them a 4-0 lead at the midway mark of the game.
Nazem Kadri swept home a loose puck for his 22nd of the season with 2:32 left in the second to give the Jackets something to think about. And when the Leafs centre got his second of the game 6:19 into the third, the Leafs sprung back to life and at least made things interesting.
If there’s one thing this Leafs team has been good at, it’s been moving on to the next test. They’ll get that with games at home Saturday against Ottawa and on the road Sunday against Carolina.