GAME 5 FINAL: Blue Jackets 3, Maple Leafs 0

In a winner-take-all Game 5 of its Eastern Conference qualifying series vs. Toronto, Columbus bounced back from its crushing Game 4 loss to shut out Toronto by a 3-0 score and finish off a 3-2 series win over the Maple Leafs to advance to the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Game in a Paragraph

In the first-ever winner-take-all game in franchise history, Columbus got an early 1-0 lead and then held it through two periods. Liam Foudy doubled the lead midway through the third period and the Blue Jackets would not see the lead disappear this time, as the team defended well and Nick Foligno clinched things with an empty-net goal.

CBJ Standouts

Quote of the Game

Head coach John Tortorella: "It's a group that we don't do it easy, the easy way. We just try to go out and play. I'm proud of them. I thought Korpi was outstanding. He made some key saves at key times for us, but it's a good group of men trying to find their way."

Quick Recap

After a feeling out process for the two teams, the Blue Jackets got the all-important first goal when Werenski tallied 6:29 into the game. He had time at the left point, and his shot toward the net deflected off of Tyson Barrie in front and got behind Frederik Andersen.

The Blue Jackets also got good looks from Alexandre Texier and Oliver Bjorkstrand in the period, but they were also lucky to leave it with a 1-0 lead. After a long shift in the offensive zone for Toronto's top line of Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Mitchell Marner left Columbus scrambling, defenseman Morgan Rielly fed Tavares in the slot but the Maple Leafs center drove his shot off the post with the net open.

The second period was a frame of near misses for both sides, with Oliver Bjorkstrand denied on the doorstep after a nice play by Liam Foudy before Toronto put together some strong shifts late in the period. On a Leafs power play, John Tavares was stoned twice in succession by Korpisalo, then the CBJ goalie made another notable save on Auston Matthews when he fired from the slot late in the frame.

Columbus also had a 30-second stretch in the period where the Leafs' top line was hemmed in its own zone and two players were without sticks, but the best chance was a shot by Werenski that trickled just wide of Andersen.

In the first 10 minutes of the third, Korpisalo made some nice one-on-one stops on shots from the circle by William Nylander and Morgan Rielly. Finally, Foudy's excellent game paid off in a goal with 8:20 to play as he collected a puck deep in the offensive zone, calmly skated toward the net and banked home a shot off the gear of Andersen.

Korpisalo made that 2-0 lead stand up on the next shift as Seth Jones fell down, leading to an odd-man rush for Toronto, but the CBJ goalie went right to left to deny Andreas Johnsson who was all alone in the slot.

From there, the Blue Jackets were able to keep the pressure off enough and picked up a few more Korpisalo saves down the stretch before Foligno walked home an empty-net goal with 22.8 seconds to go to seal the win.

Notable

Werenski's goal was his fourth of his postseason career. … At 20 years old, Foudy became the 6th active player to score in a winner-take-all before age 21, joining Robby Fabbri, Tyler Seguin, Milan Lucic, Jordan Staal and Nicklas Backstrom. ... Toronto has lost each of its last four winner-take-all contests. … Teams that score first in a do-or-die Game 5 are now 20-6. … Toronto didn't score a 5-on-5 goal in the series after Nicholas Robertson's tally in the second period of Game 3. ... Columbus finished 0-for-14 on the power play in the series.

Roster Report

Ryan Murray returned to the lineup after missing Game 4 with injury, taking the place of Scott Harrington, while Matiss Kivlenieks served as the backup goalie as Elvis Merzlikins was deemed "unfit to play" after starting Game 4. Markus Nutivaara also dressed as a seventh defenseman in place of Nathan Gerbe, who skated in Game 4.

The other scratches were forwards Josh Anderson (injury), Emil Bemstrom, Stefan Matteau, Devin Shore and Kevin Stenlund, as well as defensemen Gabriel Carlsson, Adam Clendening and Andrew Peeke.

Up Next

The Blue Jackets will move on to take on Tampa Bay in a best-of-seven series to open the Stanley Cup Playoffs.