Game Preview: Blue Jackets Aim To Make It Four Straight With A Point; Face Toronto Maple Leafs On Monday Night

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

35–16–4 (74 points; .673%) ROSTER / SCHEDULE

7:00 P.M. – MONDAY, MARCH 7TH NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OH

Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ (Out of Network)

After splitting their first two meetings of the season, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs play for a third and final time when they meet Monday night at Nationwide Arena for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop. 

The home team has won both games — the Maple Leafs winning 5-4 in Toronto back in December, and the Blue Jackets returning the favor with a one-goal win of their own, a 4-3 overtime win just two weeks ago in Columbus. 

The rubber match of the season series Monday will see two teams desperate for a win for different reasons. Columbus has hung around the playoff conversation, but missed out on two key points over the weekend in overtime losses to Los Angeles and Boston. They're now ten points behind Washington for a potential playoff spot, and despite the game in hand that the Blue Jackets have, it'll likely take .700 hockey from here out to qualify for a postseason. That's not impossible — they're 10-4-2 in the last 16 games, which is .687 — but it's a towering tall order for the youngest team in the league.

RE: MAPLE LEAFS

For Toronto, the story is much different. They'll be in the postseason and have ambitions of making a deep run, but they come into Columbus losers of two straight games. That's not much on its own, but the two losses were at home to two non-playoff teams and Toronto gave up 11 goals in the two games. 

Auston Matthews had a pair of goals in the Maple Leafs' Friday loss, and the Toronto captain will be looking for another strong outing Monday. Matthews has three goals and three assists in the two games against Columbus this season, and they've been two of the five games this season in which he's had 3+ points in a game. The 70 points that Matthews has this season leads the team by 12 over Mitch Marner, who is at 21-37-58 on the season. 

For the second time in three games, Toronto will turn to Petr Mrazek between the pipes. The Maple Leafs' number two goalie had won three straight games prior to giving up five goals in a 5-1 Buffalo Sabres victory north of the border last Wednesday. On the season, Mrazek is the owner of a 9-5-0 record with an .890 save percentage and a 3.22 goals against average. Both are career lows for the ex-Carolina Hurricane. 

STORYLINES

• GOTTA DO IT NOW
  As mentioned earlier, it's not over yet... but the Blue Jackets climb to a potential spot in the postseason is becoming a Mt. Everest-esque task. They're ten points (though one game in hand) behind the Capitals for the last spot. Washington starts a three-game, northwest Canada road trip Tuesday in Calgary. The potential for a tough week is there — but it'll be meaningless if the Blue Jackets can't take care of business Monday and Thursday (on the road against the New York Islanders). 
   
• PP-PLEASING
  The Blue Jackets power play has been — yes, pleasing — over the last month. Led by Patrik Laine, they've converted on 30% (9-of-30) of their opportunities in February and March combined. That includes a pair of power play goals in Saturday's shootout loss to Boston, including one in the final two seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime and give Columbus a point. It seems like we're, for the first time, seeing what a healthy Blue Jacket power play can look like. Can it strike again Monday night?

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