Korpisalo, Blue Jackets eliminate Toronto
TORONTO — Joonas Korpisalo stopped 33 shots as the Columbus Blue Jackets advanced to the first round of the NHL playoffs with a 3-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in
a decisive Game 5 on NHL Sunday.
Zach Werenski’s floater from the left point in the first period held up as the deciding goal. Liam Foudy sneaked in a shot from a bad angle with 8:20 to go, and captain Nick Foligno sealed the victory by scoring into an open net with 23 seconds left.
Werenski played despite not being able to finish Game 4 with an apparent upper-body injury. Korpisalo posted his second shutout of the series, while getting got the start after Elvis Merzlikins was ruled to be unfit to play.
The Maple Leafs ran out of offense with captain John Tavares misfiring by hitting the post while facing a wide-open side
in the first period. Toronto ran out of remarkable comebacks two nights after rallying from a three-goal third-period deficit in a 4-3 overtime win in Game 4.
Frederik Andersen, who totaled 19 saves, was caught cheating to his right in giving up Foudy’s goal from a bad angle.
Capitals 2, Bruins 1: At
Toronto, T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson scored to back Braden Holtby, who had 30 saves, as Washington clinched the East’s third seed and set up a firstround matchup against former Capitals coach Barry Trotz’s New York Islanders.
Boston, which won the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’S top regular-season team, lost all three of its seeding games and fell to fourth in the East. The Bruins will face Carolina in the first round.
■ Stars 2, Blues 1, SO: At Edmonton, Alberta, Joe Pavelski scored to tie it for Dallas with 31.4 seconds left in the third period, and Anton Khudobin stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout.
Denis Gurianov scored the lone shootout goal as the Stars clinched the West’s No. 3 seed and will face Calgary in the first round of the playoffs.
Defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis went winless in the round robin and next will face Vancouver.