TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (36-16-4 – 76 Points) at
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (28-26-3 – 59 Points)
MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022
1 2 3 FINAL
TORONTO 3 0 2 5
COLUMBUS 0 2 2 4
SCORING NOTES
- Ilya Mikheyev scored for Toronto at 8:06 of the first period. Mikheyev recorded his 10th goal of the
season. - Mitch Marner scored for the Maple Leafs at 14:01 of the first period. Marner recorded his 22nd goal
of the season. Marner also registered the primary assist on Matthews’ goal. Marner posted his 38th
assist of the season. Marner is currently on a seven-game point streak where he has recorded 15
points (5G, 10A). - Auston Matthews scored for Toronto at 17:06 of the first period. Matthews posted his 40th goal of
the season. Matthews has scored in back-to-back games (3G). Matthews also recorded the primary
assist on Bunting’s goal. Matthews registered his 32nd assist of the season. - Alexander Kerfoot scored for the Maple Leafs at 4:19 of the third period. Kerfoot posted his ninth
goal of the season. - Michael Bunting scored the game-winning goal for Toronto at 11:21 of the third period. Bunting
recorded his 20th goal of the season. Bunting also posted the primary assist on Marner’s goal.
Bunting registered his 25th assist of the season. Bunting is currently on a five-game point streak
where he has posted 10 points (3G, 7A). - Pierre Engvall posted the primary assist on Mikheyev’s goal. Engvall registered his 11th assist of the
season. - David Kämpf recorded the secondary assist on Mikheyev’s goal. Kämpf posted his 13th assist of the
season. - Timothy Liljegren recorded the secondary assist on Marner’s goal. Liljegren posted his 12th assist
of the season. Liljegren has posted an assist in back-to-back games. - TJ Brodie registered the secondary assist on Matthews’ goal and the secondary assist on Bunting’s
goal. Brodie has recorded 12 assists this season. - Jason Spezza posted the primary assist on Kerfoot’s goal. Spezza recorded his 10th assist of the
season. - Wayne Simmonds registered the secondary assist on Kerfoot’s goal. Simmonds posted his 10th
assist of the season.
GOALTENDER NOTES - Petr Mrázek stopped 31 of 35 shots in tonight’s win.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES - The Maple Leafs were 0-for-1 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill tonight.
OF NOTE… - Auston Matthews recorded his 40th goal of the season during tonight’s game. He is the first player
this season to reach the 40-goal mark. Matthews has recorded the fourth 40-goal season of his NHL
career; he is only the second player in Maple Leafs franchise history to do so alongside Darryl Sittler. - With his goal tonight, Michael Bunting became the first rookie to reach the 20-goal mark this season.
- Per NHL Stats, Mitch Marner became the fifth active player to start their career with at least six 60-
point seasons. He joined Alex Ovechkin (7 from 2005-06 to 2011-12), Auston Matthews (6 from 2016-
17 to present), Anze Kopitar (6 from 2006-07 to 2011-12) and Sidney Crosby (6 from 2005-06 to
2010-11). - TJ Brodie recorded his second multi-assist game of the season (2A).
- Timothy Liljegren was on the ice for a team-high 26 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5.
- David Kämpf finished the game with a team-high 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 77.78 percent
(14 for, 4 against).
SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)
1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL
TORONTO 13 (12) 13 (13) 7 (7) 33 (32)
COLUMBUS 5 (3) 14 (13) 16 (11) 35 (27)
SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)
1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL
TORONTO 31 (27) 21 (21) 13 (13) 65 (61)
COLUMBUS 10 (7) 25 (24) 27 (18) 62 (49)
ON THE ROAD AGAIN - The Maple Leafs are 17-9-3 on the road this season.
- Toronto’s all-time record is 16-11-1-5 in 33 games against the Columbus Blue Jackets and 9-5-0-2 in
16 games played in Columbus. - Toronto is 20-8-2 against the Eastern Conference this season and 11-4-2 against the Metropolitan
Division this season.
RECORD WHEN… - Toronto is 24-4-2 when scoring the first goal of the game.
- The Maple Leafs are 22-2-2 when leading after one period and 27-1-2 when leading after two periods.
- Toronto is 14-5-1 when outshot by their opponent.
- The Maple Leafs are 5-3-1 in Monday games and 5-3-1 in the first game of a back-to-back.
MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS
Shots 7 (Matthews)
Shot Attempts 11 (Matthews, Tavares)
Faceoff Wins 11 (Tavares)
Faceoff Win Percentage 65% (Tavares – 11 won, 6 lost)
Hits 1 (Holl, Kerfoot, Marner, Matthews, Rielly,
Lyubushkin, Bunting, Robertson, Tavares)
Blocked Shots 4 (Lyubushkin)
Takeaways 1 (Spezza, Simmonds, Engvall, Kämpf)
TOI 25:06 (Brodie)
Power Play TOI 1:09 (Marner, Matthews, Rielly, Nylander,
Tavares)
Shorthanded TOI 4:25 (Kämpf)
Shifts 29 (Rielly, Brodie)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage 77.78% (Kämpf – 14 for, 4 against)
UPCOMING GAMES:
March 8 Leafs vs. Seattle Scotiabank Arena 7:30 pm ET
March 10 Leafs vs. Arizona Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET
March 13 Leafs at Buffalo Tim Hortons Field 4:00 pm ET
March 15 Leafs vs. Dallas Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET
March 17 Leafs vs. Carolina Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET
March 19 Leafs at Nashville Bridgestone Arena 7:00 pm ET
Stats reflect official NHL stats at the time of distribution. Please consult official NHL game sheets (links
above) to confirm no statistical changes were made.
For Maple Leafs notes, transcripts, audio clips and media guides, please visit MapleLeafs.com/pressbox.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
HEAD COACH SHELDON KEEFE
On tonight’s game:
“I liked a lot about our game. Obviously don’t like the start of the second period, that goal they scored
early in the second that’s a real downer on the game for me that piece but obviously the first period was
as good as we could ask for. You want to follow that up and keep building on it but we weren’t able to do
that so that was the disappointing part of the game. But when you look at it we outscored them five-to-one
on even strength, they score a four-on-four goal, power play goal and one with their goalie out so five at
even strength. We probably could have had two or three in the second period there pucks laying on the
goal line a couple times, we had a couple two-on-ones. I thought we actually out chanced them in the
second period despite them carrying the play a little bit against us so the fact that we weren’t able to get
the fourth goal I thought was significant in the second period. And then take a penalty and they get one to
even it up but loved how our guys were calm and went out there and made plays to get us our lead back.”
AUSTON MATTHEWS
On tonight’s win:
“Yeah it’s a big win for us. Obviously after dropping a couple, I think we felt like we did a lot of really good
things on Saturday, so I think the start that we had was really positive. Obviously letting them back in the
game but I thought our bench and team as a whole just stayed poised and confident and we just kept
playing and scored a couple big goals to give ourselves a lead.”
On the mood on the bench when Columbus tied the game:
“I think the mood is just go out and win your next shift and just keep playing. Obviously nothing that we
change after that, just keep playing ,everybody together, make sure structure wise that we are doing the
right things and just a really, really nice all around play by Spezza, Simmonds and Kerfoot to give us that
fourth goal and then just a little insurance on the fifth one too so just keep playing and stay calm and
confident.”
MICHAEL BUNTING
On his season so far:
“I think our lines mesh pretty well. We’ve built some good chemistry and I’ve had a little bit of success
offensively and I’m just trying to keep rolling with it and just trying to stick to my game and stick to what’s
working and right now it’s working so I don’t want to change anything up but it’s been so much fun playing
with Mitch and Matthews both are great players to play with.”
On Matthews’ offensive play this season:
“Some of the stuff he does I just kind of giggle to myself mid-game because it’s pretty remarkable and
he’s such an exceptional player. He’s fun to play with, you never know what he’s going to pull out, even
last game when he tried the Michigan, he’s so quick and it’s too bad it didn’t go in but he’s a fun player to
play with and he’s one of the best or the best in the league.”
PETR MRÁZEK
On tonight’s game:
“A win is a win, that’s what matters the most. That’s what we came here for and that’s what we’re taking
home so I’m happy with that.”
On his mindset when Columbus tied the game in the third period:
“Just regroup. We gave them an early power play in the third period where they tied the game and we did
a really good job after that scoring two goals and getting the lead back
The view from left field 