Jackets dominated by Maple Leafs in Game 2

It took only one more game. Adversity struck the Blue Jackets with an overhand right to the jaw Tuesday during a one-sided 3-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 2 of a best-of-five series that will continue Thursday at Scotiabank Arena.

“Toronto was really good,” said Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, who declined to get into specifics of the game afterward. “We sucked.”

At least he was accurate, all three times he repeated that assessment.

It was not exactly the Jackets’ finest hour, and now they’re faced with a heap of adversity to overcome — none of it stemming from an injury, either, unless emotional damage counts.

Yes, defenseman Dean Kukan was blasted by Kyle Clifford early in the game, a crushing hit that caused him to leave the ice while flexing his jaw, but the wiry Swiss defenseman returned later in the first period and his situation turned out to be a minor issue compared with the bigger picture.

After shutting out the Maple Leafs in Game 1 on Sunday, taking what’s often the most critical game in a short series like this one, the Blue Jackets lost every last bit of juice they’d gained. They were dominated from start to finish, barely felt the puck on their sticks, were outshot by a whopping 39-20 and recklessly took six penalties that gave Toronto and its horde of elite talent — five power plays.

The fact the Maple Leafs didn’t score a power-play goal was one of the few positives for the Jackets during the bloodbath, along with the continued excellence of goalie Joonas Korpisalo (36 saves). Otherwise, Toronto flipped the script on the entire narrative of the series, dumping a pile of adversity on their opponents’ collective head.

Reports in the Toronto media Wednesday made it seem as if the series is effectively over. Columbus is teetering, and the expectation is that the Maple Leafs will dispatch the Blue Jackets in short order.

Judging solely by Game 2, it’s easy to see why some observers might feel that way.

Columbus continued to struggle in the defensive zone, was dominated by a relentless Toronto forecheck — usually a hallmark of the Blue Jackets — and Korpisalo finally showed that he’s human and not some indefatigable Finnish goalie-bot.

Also, there was a fiery exchange on the Blue Jackets’ bench before the third period between Tortorella and center Pierre-luc Dubois.

It was shown in its entirety during the Sportsnet broadcast of the game in Canada (which American-based viewers can view on the league’s streaming service).

Tortorella got into Dubois’ face when he skated over to the bench, voicing some strongly worded opinions, to put it nicely. Dubois chirped back with a couple of volleys of his own, while those sitting nearest to them had vacant looks of disbelief on their faces.

Among them were rookies Emil Bemstrom, Liam Foudy and Alexandre Texier and Alexander Wennberg, who had a similar shouting match with Tortorella during a game in Vancouver two years ago.

Other than all that, things appear to be fine for the Jackets as they head into a pivotal third game that both teams desperately need to win. Also, it’s the front end of a back-to-back set that concludes with Game 4 on Friday. What narrative will be written next? Stay tuned for the answer and buckle up for whatever it entails.

“We’ve got to be way better than that,” forward Gustav Nyquist said. “We weren’t good enough.” bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger