The Columbus Blue Jackets came into Monday night's against the Toronto Maple Leafs game tied with two other teams for the most comeback wins in the NHL at 18. They got behind the early and attempted to pull off another come-from-behind victory. Unfortunately they couldn't complete the comeback and fell to the Maple Leafs, 5-4.
Columbus came out looking lethargic as it ended up being all Maple leafs in the first. Less than halfway through the period, goaltender Elvis Merzlikins and defenseman Andrew Peeke lost track of the puck and the Leafs' Ilya Mikheyev poked it into the open glove side of the net.
Six minutes later, Merzlikins got a kick save against Mitchell Marner but was unable to stop the center from putting it in off his own rebound. Finally, with three minutes left, Auston Matthews wrapped around the back of the net, slinging the puck across Merzlikins' body and into corner of the net for his league-leading 40th goal of the season.
Coach Brad Larsen must've said the right things during the first intermission, because the Blue Jackets completely flipped the script in the second. In the first two minutes of the period, Sean Kuraly redirected Max Domi's shot for his eighth goal of the season, giving Domi the assist as they got Columbus on the board.
While the Jackets wouldn't score again until the final two minutes of the period, they were able to control the puck more and get shots on net throughout the entire second period. Then with just over a minute left in the second, Oliver Bjorkstrand burried a five-footer off a pass from Gustav Nyquist. Peeke also got an assist on the goal.
The final period started off the same way the second ended, with the Blue Jackets scoring. Jack Roslovic found the net just two and half minutes into the third to tie the game. Domi and Nyquist each picked up their second assist.
The Maple Leafs scored twice more to put the Blue Jackets down 5-3. Columbus went empty net in the last three minutes which paid off with a Patrick Laine goal in the last minute. However, it was too little too late as they were unable to get another one and ultimately succumbed to the Maple Leafs 5-4.
On a bright note, Jakub Voracek and Zach Werenski picked up the assists on Laine’s goal, and with that assist, Werenski moved ahead of Seth Jones for the most points by a defenseman in Blue Jackets history.
NEXT UP
The Blue Jackets head up to New York on Thursday to face the Islanders. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. EST
