After trailing 5-4 heading into the third period, the Blue Jackets rallied back to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 in overtime on Friday at Nationwide Arena.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| TOR MAPLE LEAFS | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
1st Period
After a Johnny Gaudreau neutral-zone turnover, Mitch Marner opened the scoring off the rush on a tic-tac-toe goal at 4:14.
#LeafsForever Marner goal pic.twitter.com/lZkijx696q
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
Thanks to a nice feed from Jake Bean, Cole Sillinger evened the score with a snipe from the slot at 11:17, his fourth goal of the season.
#CBJ Sillinger (4) goal pic.twitter.com/tpMQUEhzdX
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
Auston Matthews scored his fifth goal against the Blue Jackets this season at 12:55, wiring a shot from the right circle to put Toronto ahead 2-1.
#LeafsForever Matthews goal pic.twitter.com/aMpmNuD61L
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
After 20 minutes, Toronto led 2-1 and had a 15-4 advantage in shots on goal.
2nd Period
Spencer Martin replaced Elvis Merzlikins, who left the game with an illness, in the Columbus net to start the second period.
Toronto extended its lead at 1:35 when Nicholas Robertson deflected Timothy Liljegren's shot past Martin.
#LeafsForever Robertson goal pic.twitter.com/4NbgYY71G1
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
Columbus cut its deficit to one at 3:20 when Alexandre Texier found Brendan Gaunce, who scored his first goal of the season from the blue paint.
#CBJ Gaunce (1) goal pic.twitter.com/T4sKPdBJYt
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
William Nylander doubled the Maple Leafs' lead on the power play at 9:42 when he roofed a shot from the goal line at a seemingly impossible angle.
#LeafsForever Nylander goal pic.twitter.com/QVnsbc6Koq
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
Dmitri Voronkov scored his seventh goal of the season at 11:05 on the power play when he deflected Gaudreau's shot past Toronto goalie Ilya Samsonov in front of the net.
#CBJ Voronkov (7) goal pic.twitter.com/rifwbUSfjB
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
Kent Johnson tied the game with his fifth goal of the year at 12:43 with a nifty backhand feed from the goalmouth after Emil Bemstrom took the puck away along the wall and found Johnson.
#CBJ Johnson (5) goal pic.twitter.com/ujLFg8tpc9
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
After Simon Benoit stepped towards Adam Fantilli following an icing, Erik Gudbranson fought Benoit and won convincingly at 18:54.
Heres the #LeafsForever Benoit vs. #CBJ Gudbranson fight pic.twitter.com/OQqrZf59Gg
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
John Tavares put Toronto ahead at 19:05 when he deflected Nylander's power-play shot past Martin from the blue paint.
JOHNNY ON THE POWER PLAY!! pic.twitter.com/ZCL3npM8Xz
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 30, 2023
Toronto led 5-4 after 40 minutes and took a 26-11 advantage in shots on goal into the third period.
3rd Period
Fantilli tied the game at 13:46 with a wicked left-circle wrist shot. The goal was his 10th of the season.
Folks, Adam Fantilli is a special player. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/5oLXeXzUhD
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
The teams were tied at five after 60 minutes with a 33-19 advantage in shots on goal.
Overtime
Gaudreau scored the game-winning goal from the goalmouth at 2:56, tallying his seventh goal of the season.
#CBJ Gaudreau (7) goal pic.twitter.com/uW2H0Nxh8T
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
With the win, the Blue Jackets improved to 12-17-8.
Stats
- Shots on Goal: TOR 33-21 CBJ
- Face-off %: TOR 57.1-42.9 CBJ
- Power play: TOR 2/4-1/2 CBJ
- Giveaways: TOR 2-2 CBJ
- Takeaways: TOR 6-5 CBJ
- Blocked shots: TOR 17-12 CBJ
- Hits: TOR 7-7 CBJ
-
5-on-5 stats (via naturalstattrick.com):
- Expected Goals (xG): TOR 2.46-1.10 CBJ
- Shot Attempts (CF): TOR 54-45 CBJ
- Shots on Goal (SF): TOR 29-16 CBJ
- Scoring Chances (SCF): TOR 25-17 CBJ
- High-Danger Chances (HDCF): TOR 11-5 CBJ
Injury Update
- Jack Roslovic returned to action in his first game since suffering an ankle fracture on Nov. 12.
- Zach Werenski was placed on IR with an ankle injury he suffered on Dec. 27 and is week-to-week.
- Sean Kuraly is day-to-day with an abdominal injury.
- Nick Blankenburg was placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 19 with an upper-body injury. He's listed as day-to-day.
- Patrik Laine is expected to miss six weeks with a clavicle fracture suffered on Dec. 15 and is on IR retroactive to Dec. 14.
- Boone Jenner is on IR and is expected to miss six weeks with a broken jaw he suffered on Dec. 8.
- Adam Boqvist is expected to miss four weeks with a shoulder strain and is on IR retroactive to Dec. 5.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets head north to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
The club returns to action on Tuesday to host the Bruins at 7 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
