GAME 2 FINAL: Maple Leafs 3, Blue Jackets 0

In Game 2 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs qualifying series, the Blue Jackets lost a 3-0 decision to Toronto on Tuesday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The teams' best-of-five series is now tied one win apiece.

Game in a Paragraph

Another standout outing from Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo allowed Columbus to stay in the game. Despite his excellent performance, Toronto dominated the puck for the first 40 minutes and finally got its first goal of the series late in the second period. The Maple Leafs added another early in the third and finished off the win from there.

CBJ Standouts

Quote of the Game

Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno: "I just didn't think we had it tonight. That's really the difference."

Quick Recap

After its Game 1 loss, Toronto came out flying, amassing a 6-0 edge in shots on goal in the first five minutes, making it a 15-6 edge by the end of the first and earning two power plays in the opening 20 minutes.

Yet it was still a 0-0 game after the first period thanks in large part to the steadiness of Korpisalo. His biggest save came in transition as a nice passing play fed John Tavares in alone coming off the left wing, but Korpisalo stuck out the left pad and made a stop on his shot attempt from in tight.

As good as Korpisalo was in the first period, he had to be even better in the second as he faced a barrage of high-quality shots from Toronto. That was especially true on the power play, where Korpisalo absolutely robbed Tavares on a rebound and also made some excellent stops on Kasperi Kapanen and William Nylander, with Seth Jones clearing the crease in a goalmouth scramble after the latter try.

Korpisalo added an excellent blocker stop on Justin Holl at 5-on-5, but finally Auston Matthews got the Maple Leafs on the board with exactly 4:00 to go in the period. The Maple Leafs finally got some ice on the rush, with Zach Hyman coming in along the right-wing boards before centering to Matthews, whose quick tip on the shot redirected it past the blocker of Korpisalo.

Columbus replied shortly thereafter with its best chance of the game to that point while skating at 4-on-4, as Cam Atkinson battled for a puck and fed Zach Werenski for a look from the slot, but Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen made the stop on the shot and Atkinson's follow-up to keep the Maple Leafs ahead.

The Blue Jackets then were taken advantage of again in transition just 4:57 into the second as Tavares finally got his goal to make it 2-0. As the Blue Jackets pushed for a goal and flubbed a chance in front, Travis Dermott's clearing attept banked off the boards and found Tavares alone in the neutral zone, and the Maple Leafs center beat Korpisalo with a forehand shot.

Columbus pushed for some chances from there, with Alex Wennberg getting a good look in transition, but Andersen would not be beaten. A pair of late power plays also went for naught for the Blue Jackets as Toronto closed out the win with an empty-net goal by Morgan Rielly with 42.6 seconds to go.

In a scary situation late in the game, Toronto defenseman Jake Muzzin left on a stretcher after a collision with 1:52 to go as he went headfirst into the knee of Oliver Bjorkstrand. Muzzin was tended to for around 15 minutes by medical personnel before being taken off the ice.

Notable

Columbus held Toronto to 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Blue Jackets were 0-for-4. … Over the first two games of the series, Korpisalo played 96:00 of playoff hockey before yielding his first career postseason goal. He stopped the first 55 shots on goal that he faced. … Blue Jackets defenseman Dean Kukan left the game for part of the first period after taking a hard hit from Kyle Clifford on his first shift, but he did return. … Columbus was shut out for the third time in its playoff history, with the last one coming in Game 6 of the Boston series last year, a 3-0 final. … Columbus is in a 1-1 series for the third time in franchise history but has lost the series in the previous two instances. The Blue Jackets split the opening two games with Pittsburgh in 2014's first round as well as the first two second-round games a year ago vs. Boston.

Roster Report

Columbus made no changes to the lineup from its Game 1 win. The scratches were forwards Josh Anderson (injury), Nathan Gerbe, Stefan Matteau, Devin Shore and Kevin Stenlund; defensemen Gabriel Carlsson, Adam Clendening, Scott Harrington, Markus Nutivaara and Andrew Peeke; and goalie Matiss Kivlenieks.

Up Next

The Blue Jackets take on the Maple Leafs in Game 3 on Thursday night at 8 p.m.