Category: Maple Leafs

MAPLE LEAFS-BLUE JACKETS GAME 4: Pregame Notes

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (1-2) vs.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (2-1)

AUGUST 7, 2020 ▪ 8:00 PM EST

SCOTIABANK ARENA (TORONTO, ON) ▪
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: TSN 1050

MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY versus COLUMBUS


ALL-TIME RECORD: 14-11-1-4
ALL-TIME at HOME: 6-6-1-3

ALL-TIME PLAYOFF SERIES RECORD: 0-0

ALL-TIME PLAYOFF RECORD: 1-2
2019-20: 1-0-1

THE SERIES SO FAR

GAME THREE – AUGUST 6, 2020: Columbus 4 vs. Toronto 3

GAME SUMMARY        |           EVENT SUMMARY       |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Ceci, Nylander, Robertson

Columbus Goals: Dubois (3), Jones

TOR PP: 1/2; CBJ PP: 0/3

Shots: 43-36 Columbus; Hits: 27-19 Columbus; Faceoff %: 51% Toronto

GAME TWO – AUGUST 4, 2020: Toronto 3 vs. Columbus 0

GAME SUMMARY        |           EVENT SUMMARY       |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Matthews, Tavares, Rielly

Columbus Goals: N/A

TOR PP: 0/5; CBJ PP: 0/4

Shots: 39-20 Toronto; Hits: 28-18 Columbus; Faceoff %: 53% Columbus

GAME ONE – AUGUST 2, 2020: Columbus 2 vs. Toronto 0

GAME SUMMARY        |           EVENT SUMMARY       |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: N/A

Columbus Goals: Atkinson, Wennberg

TOR PP: 0/1; CBJ PP: 0/2

Shots: 35-28 Columbus; Hits: 37-26 Columbus; Faceoff %: 58% Toronto

MAPLE LEAFS SERIES LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADERCATEGORYLEADER
GOALS1 (Six players tied)BLOCKED SHOTS9 (Holl)
ASSISTS3 (Kerfoot)TAKEAWAYS6 (Matthews)
POINTS3 (Kerfoot, Matthews)HITS8 (Hyman)
SHOTS13 (Tavares)TOI PER GAME26:29 (Rielly)
FACEOFF WIN%63.6% (Tavares)PP TOI PER GAME3:46 (Matthews)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %66.6% (Marincin)SH TOI PER GAME3:19 (Holl)

MAPLE LEAFS CAREER LEADERS versus COLUMBUS

GAMES: John Tavares (27), Jason Spezza (22), Kyle Clifford (20), Morgan Rielly (20)
POINTS: John Tavares (33), Mitch Marner (12), Jason Spezza (12)

GOALS: John Tavares (14), Mitch Marner (5), Jason Spezza (4)

ASSISTS: John Tavares (19), Morgan Rielly (9), Tyson Barrie (9)

PENALTY MINUTES: Kyle Clifford (23), John Tavares (16), Jake Muzzin (14)

BLUE JACKETS CAREER LEADERS versus TORONTO

GAMES: Nick Foligno (46), Brandon Dubinsky (32), Gustav Nyquist (27)

POINTS: Brandon Dubinsky (23), Nick Foligno (22), Gustav Nyquist (20)

GOALS: Gustav Nyquist (11), Nick Foligno (10), Brandon Dubinsky (7)

ASSISTS: Brandon Dubinsky (16), Nick Foligno (12), Seth Jones (9), Gustav Nyquist (9)

PENALTY MINUTES: Nick Foligno (38), Brandon Dubinsky (26), Nathan Gerbe (16)

MAPLE LEAFS ACTIVE PLAYOFF LEADERS

GAMES: Jason Spezza (83), Jake Muzzin (59), Kyle Clifford (58)

POINTS: Jason Spezza (70), John Tavares (28), Jake Muzzin (22)
GOALS: Jason Spezza (25), John Tavares (14), Auston Matthews (11)

ASSISTS: Jason Spezza (45), Jake Muzzin (15), John Tavares (14)
PENALTY MINUTES: Kyle Clifford (62), Jason Spezza (30), Jake Muzzin (22)

2019-20 SEASON SERIES

October 4, 2019: Toronto 4 vs. Columbus 1

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Marner (2), Ceci, Matthews

Columbus Goals: Atkinson

October 21, 2019: Columbus 4 vs. Toronto 3 OT

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Kapanen, Matthews, Nylander

Boston Goals: Nash, Dubois, Wennberg, Nyquist

MAPLE LEAFS SNAPSHOTS

Postseason Appearances– The 2020 postseason marks the Maple Leafs’ 69th appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Series History– The Maple Leafs have played a total of 114 series in their previous 68 playoff appearances, winning 58 of them.
Playoff Record– Toronto has a record of 263-287-4 in 554 franchise playoff games.
Best of Five– The Toronto franchise (Arenas, St. Pats, Maple Leafs) has played in 15 best-of-five series in its history and have a 7-8 record in that span
Toronto vs. Columbus– This is the first time the Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets have met in a postseason series.
Postseason Experience– Frederik Andersen, Kasperi Kapanen, Zach Hyman, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly have appeared in all 23 postseason games contested by the Maple Leafs since the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, per NHL Stats.
In the Atlantic– Toronto finished third in the Atlantic Division and 13th in the NHL standings with a record of 36-25-9 (.569 points percentage).
Team Discipline– The Maple Leafs took the sixth-fewest penalties in the NHL (219) and averaged the third-fewest penalty minutes per game (6.7). 
Faceoffs– The Maple Leafs finished third among NHL teams in faceoff win percentage (52.5%) and tied for second among NHL teams in offensive zone faceoff win percentage (54.0%).
Goals by Strength– The Maple Leafs were third in the NHL in goals scored at 5-on-5 (159).
Power Play– The Maple Leafs have the third fewest power play opportunities (195) among NHL teams that have scored at least 40 power play goals (45).
Penalty Kill– Toronto was shorthanded 193 times this season, which was the eighth-fewest times shorthanded in the NHL.
Scoring First– Toronto had a .774 win percentage when scoring first, which tied for the third highest in the NHL.

MAPLE LEAFS NOTABLES

Frederik Andersen– Stopped 39 of the 43 shots he faced in game three of the series. – Since joining the Maple Leafs in 2016-17, Andersen is 9-12 in 22 Stanley Cup Playoffs appearances. He is tied for eighth among Maple Leafs goalies in all-time playoff wins.
Tyson Barrie– Averaging 20:37 in ice time and 15.43 shot attempts per 60 minutes of ice time through three games in the series.- Has appeared in 24 career playoff games and recorded 14 points (one goal, 13 assists).
Jack Campbell– Could make his Stanley Cup playoff debut this postseason.- Had a 3-2-1 record with a .915 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average after being acquired by the Maple Leafs.- Has made two career appearances against the Blue Jackets and is 1-0-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
Cody Ceci– Scored a shorthanded goal on August 6 vs. Columbus to become the first Maple Leaf defenceman to score a shorthanded goal in the playoffs since Jim McKenny on April 9, 1972 vs. Boston- Has skated in 28 career playoff games, recording a goal and three assists.
Kyle Clifford– Has appeared in 58 career playoff games and is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion (2012, 2014) with the Los Angeles Kings.
Travis Dermott– Played a playoff career-high 24:58 in ice time on August 6 vs. Columbus.- Has two goals and three assists in 17 career playoff games.
Justin Holl– Leads the Maple Leafs in shorthanded ice time per game (3:19) in the series thus far. – Made his Stanley Cup playoff debut on August 2 vs. Columbus. 
Zach Hyman– Ranks second among Toronto forwards in even-strength time on ice per game (18:20).- Has appeared in 23 career playoff games and recorded 10 points (3-7-10).
  
Kasperi Kapanen– Had his first multi-assist playoff game on August 6 vs. Columbus.- Has drawn a team-high three penalties through two games of the series.- Has appeared in 22 career playoff games and recorded five points (4-1-5).
Alex Kerfoot– Had his first career multi-point and multi-assist playoff game on August 6 vs. Columbus.- Leads Maple Leaf forwards in blocked shots with six through three games.- Has appeared in 22 career playoff games and recorded seven points (2-5-7).
Mitch Marner– Registered his first point of the postseason with an assist in game three of the series.- Has a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 61.6 percent through three games, which leads Toronto forwards.- Has appeared in 23 career playoff games and recorded 18 career points (5-13-18).
Auston Matthews– Ranks third among NHL forwards in ice time per game (23:22) through two games of the series.- Has skated in 23 career playoff games and recorded 11 goals and five assists.- Per NHL Stats, Matthews’ 11 career playoff goals (20 GP) are tied for the second-most among Maple Leafs before age 23. He trails Ted Kennedy (20 G in 38 GP) and is tied with Wendel Clark (11 G in 23 GP).
William Nylander– Registered his first goal of the postseason on August 6 vs. Columbus.- Averaging 21:06 per game in ice time through three games.- Has recorded four goals goals and nine assists in 23 career playoff games.
Jason Spezza– Leads the Maple Leafs in career playoff games (83), goals (25), assists (45) and points (70).
John Tavares– Ranks second among NHL skaters in faceoff wins (42) through three games.- Leads the Maple Leafs in shots on goal (13) through two games. – Has skated in 33 career playoff games and recorded 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists).
  

INJURY REPORT

Andreas Johnsson (Knee)On injured reserve.
Jake MuzzinLeft Toronto’s game on August 4 and has been ruled out for the remainder of the series.

MAPLE LEAFS – BLUE JACKETS FINAL 2019-20 TEAM STATS

 TORONTOCOLUMBUS
GOALS FOR (Rank):237 (2nd)180 (t-28th)
GOALS AGAINST (Rank):     222 (25th)183 (t-3rd)
POWER PLAY [%] (Rank):45/195 [23.8%] (6th)31/189 [16.4%] (27th)
PENALTY KILL [%] (Rank):150/193 [77.7%] (21st)138/169 [81.7%] (12th)
SHOTS (Rank):2302 (4th)2272 (6th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPTS FOR (Rank):3466 (3rd)3133 (14th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT % (Rank):52.0% (6th)49.2% (19th)
FACEOFF % (Rank):52.5% (3rd)48.5% (26th)

MAPLE LEAFS 2019-20 LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADER
GOALS47 (Matthews)
ASSISTS51 (Marner)
POINTS80 (Matthews)
POWER PLAY POINTS25 (Matthews)
SHORTHANDED POINTS2 (Engvall, Kapanen)
PIMs43 (Holl)
SHOTS290 (Matthews)
FACEOFF WIN%55.3% (Tavares)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %54.6% (Nylander)
BLOCKED SHOTS110 (Muzzin)
TAKEAWAYS78 (Matthews)
HITS109 (Muzzin)
TOI PER GAME24:12 (Rielly)
PP TOI PER GAME3:13 (Marner)
SH TOI PER GAME2:50 (Ceci)

COLUMBUS 4, TORONTO 3 (OT): What the Leafs said.

SHELDON KEEFE

Q. (Chris Johnston, Sportsnet): I’m wondering where you felt that game got away from you guys once you built the lead? 

SHELDON KEEFE: I feel like the game got away from us right from the start. I didn’t like our game in the first period, I didn’t like our game at 1-0, I didn’t like our game at 2-0 and 3-0. We just got what we deserved today. I thought we reverted back to a lot of really bad habits. We didn’t have any real purpose or plan to our game today, we were just making it up as we go along. We get what we deserve. 

Q. (Josh Clipperton, The Canadian Press): How do you explain that after such a great performance in game two? 

SHELDON KEEFE: Tough to explain. That’s part of the deal. It’s why it’s a playoff series and every day is a new day, just like it was after game one, just like it was after game two and just like it is here. We’ve got to put this behind us and get ready to come back tomorrow. 

Q. (Mark Masters, TSN): What are you going to learn about your group over the next 24 hours? What’s it going to take to bounce back from this? 

SHELDON KEEFE: We’re going to learn a great deal, but I think we’ve already learned this. We’ve been through adventures like this with this team before. We’ve always come back with a great performance. Tomorrow will be no different. 

Q. (Justin Cuthbert, Yahoo Sports): Some increased responsibility for Travis Dermott tonight, wondering how you thought he fared in that role? 

SHELDON KEEFE: I thought that as a team we didn’t help our defence as a group and as a group our defence didn’t help themselves. 

Q. (Jonas Siegel, The Athletic): What message will you leave to the group heading into game four on Friday night? 

SHELDON KEEFE: I’ve already talked to the team here today and really just reiterate the things we were talking about the entire game that we weren’t playing with any real plan or purpose and it caught up with us. It’s over now. We’ve got to regroup here, this is what playoff hockey is all about. The emotions, the swings of momentum, it’s the best part of playoffs here, so a chance to regroup and come back at it tomorrow and be a better version of ourselves than we were today is an exciting part for me. We’ll get to work on that. 

MORGAN RIELLY & JOHN TAVARES

Q. (Chris Johnston, Sportsnet): I’m just wondering where you think that game started to get away from you guys when you were up 3-0? 

JOHN TAVARES: When they got that goal it just seemed to give them some life and we just didn’t do a lot of the things we did consistently previously in game two, especially wearing them out in their zone. Obviously, they got some life and some jump and started creating some transition opportunities, putting a lot of pucks towards the net. Obviously, when you get a 3-0 lead we have to find a way to close that one out. It is what it is, we have to push forward now and understand what’s in front of us and regroup and have a big one tomorrow. 

Q. (Josh Clipperton, The Canadian Press): Having to come back in less than 21 hours, John, how do you guys bounce back? Is it almost a good thing to have not a lot of time to think about this? 

JOHN TAVARES: It is what it is. Whatever the circumstances are, obviously we understand what’s facing us. We’ve got to regroup and understand the way we’ve got to play and how desperate we’ve got to be. A lot of belief in our group and obviously it’s tomorrow. We’ve got to do the best we can. Recover, fuel up and give everything we’ve got tomorrow. 

Q. (Mark Masters, TSN): Morgan, how do you feel the team handled the absence of Jake Muzzin tonight? 

MORGAN RIELLY: I thought we did a decent job. Obviously, he’s a big part of our team and like I talked about in previous days you can’t really replace him, you can have guys take on more responsibility. I thought we had guys that did that. I thought the penalty kill was pretty good. Obviously, we miss him still but I think it’s important that tomorrow we have guys rise to the occasion more and then game five as well. 

MITCH MARNER & NICK ROBERTSON

Q. (Josh Clipperton, The Canadian Press): You guys were up 3-0 midway through the second period, how do you explain what happened next? 

MITCH MARNER: I think we had that great penalty kill. I think guys really showed urgency to get in lanes and block shots, a couple of bounces here and there. It went to one of their guys to hit one of their guys back door. I think from that moment on we’ve just got to keep cool, keep going. To start the third, we had a power play there for a minute and a bit, we didn’t generate anything, we gave them all the credit there. That’s something we’ve got to change, we’ve got to get way better at. 

Q. (Kevin McGran, Toronto Star): Nick, not the result you wanted tonight but you scored tonight, a pretty good goal, a lot of people are very happy for you. How did it feel to score your first NHL goal and do you know what you’re going to do with the puck? 

NICK ROBERTSON: [Kasperi Kapanen] made a nice play, turned up at the end of his shift and I just tried to get a shot off. Luckily it went in. Obviously, I was excited, but I’ve got to put that excitement away and we’ve got to finish the period there. Didn’t get the result we wanted so hopefully we can be excited afer tomorrow’s game. 

Q. (Chris Johnston, Sportsnet): Given how quickly it is until game four, what sort of things are you saying to each other? What’s the message to move past this? 

MITCH MARNER: Just erase it. We’re a team that’s been bouncing back all year from things that didn’t go our way. We’ve always showed up the next game and played our hearts out. We’ve got to refocus, get ready. It’s quick turnaround. We know that they’re going to want to finish this out. We’ve got to make sure we’re playing smart, playing above. We got away from that tonight and let them get too many odd-man rushes, too flowy for them. It’s something we’ve got to clean up. 

Q. (Mark Masters, TSN): Mitch, obviously the quick turnaround from a gut-wrenching loss. How do you describe the mental toughness of the team? You guys have been through a lot in the last few years’ playoffs, the scars you’ve picked up. How would you describe the mental toughness of the group? 

MITCH MARNER: Like I just said, we’ve shown our resilience when we’ve had tough losses or haven’t played the way we’ve wanted to. Again tonight, we really let those guys have their way on rushes. Too many 3-on-2s, 4-on-2s, Freddie came up big for us many times. I think our forwards and D, we’ve got to talk more and cover each other better and stay above. That’s what that team does. They kill you on your turnovers, we gave them too many tonight and they didn’t miss on their opportunities when they had them.

BLUE JACKETS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3 (OT): Postgame notes

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (1-2) vs.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (2-1)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020

 123OTFINAL
TORONTO12003
COLUMBUS01214

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

  • Cody Ceci opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs with a shorthanded goal at 18:52 of the first period. Ceci’s goal is his first career playoff goal and first point of the 2020 postseason. He had a goal and seven assists in 56 games this season. He has four points (1-3-4) in 28 career playoff games. Ceci’s first period goal is his first NHL goal to come while shorthanded in regular season or postseason play. He is the first Maple Leaf defenceman to score a shorthanded goal in the playoffs since Jim McKenny on April 9, 1972 vs. Boston.
  • William Nylander scored the second Toronto goal of the night at 7:08 of the second period on the power play. Nylander’s goal is his first goal of the playoffs. He has points (1-1-2) in two consecutive games. In 23 career playoff games, he has recorded 13 points (3-10-13).
  • Nick Robertson scored the third Maple Leafs goal of the game at 8:48 of the second period. Robertson’s goal is his first in NHL competition. At 18 years, 330 days old, he is the third Maple Leaf in franchise history to score a playoff goal before the age of 19, joining Jack Hamilton and Ted Kennedy, per NHL Stats. He is the first NHLer to score a playoff goal before turning 19 since Sam Bennett with Calgary in 2015. He led the Ontario Hockey League and Canadian Hockey League in goal-scoring with this season with 55 goals in 46 games.
  • Alex Kerfoot registered the primary assist on Ceci’s first period goal and later added the secondary assist on Robertson’s second period goal. Kerfoot has assists (0-3-3) in two consecutive games. Tonight’s game is his first career multi-point and multi-assist playoff game. He has eight points (2-6-8) in 22 career postseason games.
  • Kasperi Kapanen collected the secondary assist on Ceci’s first period goal and later had the primary assist on Robertson’s second period goal. Kapanen’s first period assist was his first point of the 2020 playoffs. Tonight’s game is his third career multi-point and first career multi-assist playoff game. He had 13 goals and 23 assists in 69 games during the 2019-20 regular season. He has seven points (four goals, three assists) in 23 career playoff games.
  • Mitch Marner recorded the primary assist on Nylander’s second period goal. Marner’s assist is his first point of the 2020 postseason. He had 16 goals and 51 assists in 59 games during the 2019-20 season. In 23 career playoff games, he has recorded 17 points (5-12-17).
  • Auston Matthews picked up the secondary assist on Nylander’s second period goal. Matthews has points (1-2-3) in two consecutive games. He has 16 points (11-5-16) in 23 career playoff games.
  • Frederik Andersen stopped 40 shots in the loss.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
TORONTO9 (7)8 (7)10 (10)9 (9)36 (33)
COLUMBUS6 (6)10 (8)14 (14)14 (14)44 (42)

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
TORONTO28 (26)15 (12)17 (17)18 (18)78 (73)
COLUMBUS20 (19)23 (16)21 (21)18 (18)82 (74)

OF NOTE…

  • The Maple Leafs went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-2 on the power play tonight.
  • The Maple Leafs are 58-57-1 all-time in playoff overtimes.
  • Justin Holl was on the ice for a team-high 30 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5. He finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 47.6 percent (30 for, 33 against). 
  • Martin Marincin played in his first game of the series.
  • John Tavares won 83 percent (10 won, 2 lost) of his defensive zone faceoffs and was 11-for-16 (69%) in the faceoff circle against Columbus centre Pierre-Luc Dubois. 

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots4 (Hyman, Nylander, Rielly)
Shot Attempts7 (Mikheyev)
Faceoff Wins16 (Tavares)
Faceoff Win Percentage100% (Spezza – 2 won, 0 lost)
Hits4 (Hyman, Marincin)
Blocked Shots5 (Holl)
Takeaways2 (Matthews, Tavares)
TOI32:26 (Rielly)
Power Play TOI2:10 (Nylander)
Shorthanded TOI3:17 (Marincin)
Shifts36 (Rielly)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage73.3% (Spezza – 11 for, 4 against)
  

UPCOMING GAMES:

  • Friday, August 7, 8 p.m., Toronto at Columbus (Sportsnet, NBCSN, TVA)
  • Sunday, August 9, TBD, Columbus at Toronto (TBD)*
    *If Necessary

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.

F

TRAIKOS: Blue Jackets’ Dubois a one-man wrecking ball versus Leafs — Toronto Sun

It was during Game 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs when cameras caught Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella ignoring social distancing rules as he got in the face of Pierre-Luc Dubois and screamed at him for what seemed like an eternity. Read More

TRAIKOS: Blue Jackets’ Dubois a one-man wrecking ball versus Leafs — Toronto Sun

Maple Leafs-Blue Jackets Game 3: PREGAME NOTES

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (1-1) vs.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (1-1)

AUGUST 6, 2020 ▪ 8:00 PM EST

SCOTIABANK ARENA (TORONTO, ON) ▪
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN

MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY versus COLUMBUS


ALL-TIME RECORD: 14-11-1-4
ALL-TIME at HOME: 6-6-1-3

ALL-TIME PLAYOFF SERIES RECORD: 0-0

ALL-TIME PLAYOFF RECORD: 1-1
2019-20: 1-0-1

THE SERIES SO FAR

GAME TWO – AUGUST 4, 2020: Toronto 3 vs. Columbus 0

GAME SUMMARY        |           EVENT SUMMARY       |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Matthews, Tavares, Rielly

Columbus Goals: N/A

TOR PP: 0/5; CBJ PP: 0/4

Shots: 39-20 Toronto; Hits: 28-18 Columbus; Faceoff %: 53% Columbus

GAME ONE – AUGUST 2, 2020: Columbus 2 vs. Toronto 0

GAME SUMMARY        |           EVENT SUMMARY       |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: N/A

Columbus Goals: Atkinson, Wennberg

TOR PP: 0/1; CBJ PP: 0/2

Shots: 35-28 Columbus; Hits: 37-26 Columbus; Faceoff %: 58% Toronto

MAPLE LEAFS SERIES LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADERCATEGORYLEADER
GOALS1 (Matthews, Rielly, Tavares)BLOCKED SHOTS5 (Muzzin)
ASSISTS1 (Five players tied)TAKEAWAYS4 (Matthews)
POINTS2 (Matthews)HITS6 (Kerfoot)
SHOTS10 (Matthews)TOI PER GAME23:31 (Rielly)
FACEOFF WIN%70.3% (Tavares)PP TOI PER GAME4:37 (Matthews)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %68.1% (Marner)SH TOI PER GAME3:47 (Holl)

MAPLE LEAFS CAREER LEADERS versus COLUMBUS

GAMES: John Tavares (27), Jason Spezza (22), Kyle Clifford (20), Morgan Rielly (20)
POINTS: John Tavares (33), Mitch Marner (12), Jason Spezza (12)

GOALS: John Tavares (14), Mitch Marner (5), Jason Spezza (4)

ASSISTS: John Tavares (19), Morgan Rielly (9), Tyson Barrie (9)

PENALTY MINUTES: Kyle Clifford (23), John Tavares (16), Jake Muzzin (14)

BLUE JACKETS CAREER LEADERS versus TORONTO

GAMES: Nick Foligno (46), Brandon Dubinsky (32), Gustav Nyquist (27)

POINTS: Brandon Dubinsky (23), Nick Foligno (22), Gustav Nyquist (20)

GOALS: Gustav Nyquist (11), Nick Foligno (10), Brandon Dubinsky (7)

ASSISTS: Brandon Dubinsky (16), Nick Foligno (12), Seth Jones (9), Gustav Nyquist (9)

PENALTY MINUTES: Nick Foligno (38), Brandon Dubinsky (26), Nathan Gerbe (16)

MAPLE LEAFS ACTIVE PLAYOFF LEADERS

GAMES: Jason Spezza (82), Jake Muzzin (59), Kyle Clifford (57)

POINTS: Jason Spezza (70), John Tavares (28), Jake Muzzin (22)
GOALS: Jason Spezza (25), John Tavares (14), Auston Matthews (11)

ASSISTS: Jason Spezza (45), Jake Muzzin (15), John Tavares (14)
PENALTY MINUTES: Kyle Clifford (62), Jason Spezza (30), Jake Muzzin (22)

2019-20 SEASON SERIES

October 4, 2019: Toronto 4 vs. Columbus 1

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Marner (2), Ceci, Matthews

Columbus Goals: Atkinson

October 21, 2019: Columbus 4 vs. Toronto 3 OT

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Kapanen, Matthews, Nylander

Boston Goals: Nash, Dubois, Wennberg, Nyquist

MAPLE LEAFS SNAPSHOTS

Postseason Appearances– The 2020 postseason marks the Maple Leafs’ 69th appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Series History– The Maple Leafs have played a total of 114 series in their previous 68 playoff appearances, winning 58 of them.
Playoff Record– Toronto has a record of 262-285-4 in 551 franchise playoff games.
Best of Five– The Toronto franchise (Arenas, St. Pats, Maple Leafs) has played in 15 best-of-five series in its history and have a 7-8 record in that span
Toronto vs. Columbus– This is the first time the Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets have met in a postseason series.
Postseason Experience– Frederik Andersen, Kasperi Kapanen, Zach Hyman, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly have appeared in all 20 postseason games contested by the Maple Leafs since the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, per NHL Stats.
In the Atlantic– Toronto finished third in the Atlantic Division and 13th in the NHL standings with a record of 36-25-9 (.569 points percentage).
Team Discipline– The Maple Leafs took the sixth-fewest penalties in the NHL (219) and averaged the third-fewest penalty minutes per game (6.7). 
Faceoffs– The Maple Leafs finished third among NHL teams in faceoff win percentage (52.5%) and tied for second among NHL teams in offensive zone faceoff win percentage (54.0%).
Goals by Strength– The Maple Leafs were third in the NHL in goals scored at 5-on-5 (159).
Power Play– The Maple Leafs have the third fewest power play opportunities (195) among NHL teams that have scored at least 40 power play goals (45).
Penalty Kill– Toronto was shorthanded 193 times this season, which was the eighth-fewest times shorthanded in the NHL.
Scoring First– Toronto had a .774 win percentage when scoring first, which tied for the third highest in the NHL.

MAPLE LEAFS NOTABLES

Frederik Andersen– Stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced in game one. He has allowed one or fewer goals in 12 of his 49 playoff appearances.- Since joining the Maple Leafs in 2016-17, Andersen is 9-12 in 22 Stanley Cup Playoffs appearances. He is tied for eighth among Maple Leafs goalies in all-time playoff wins.
Tyson Barrie– Averaging 18:34 in ice time and 21.49 shot attempts per 60 minutes of ice time through two games in the series.- Has appeared in 23 career playoff games and recorded 14 points (one goal, 13 assists).
Jack Campbell– Could make his Stanley Cup playoff debut this postseason.- Had a 3-2-1 record with a .915 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average after being acquired by the Maple Leafs.- Has made two career appearances against the Blue Jackets and is 1-0-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
Cody Ceci– Has recorded four blocked shots through two games of the series after recording 79 blocked shots in 56 games during the 2019-20 regular season.- Has skated in 27 career playoff games, recording three assists.
Kyle Clifford– Has appeared in 57 career playoff games and is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion (2012, 2014) with the Los Angeles Kings.
Justin Holl– Leads the Maple Leafs in shorthanded ice time per game (3:47) in the series thus far. – Made his Stanley Cup playoff debut on August 2 vs. Columbus. 
Zach Hyman– Registered his first point of the postseason with an assist in game two. Ranks fourth among Toronto skaters in even-strength time on ice per game (15:38).- Has appeared in 22 career playoff games and recorded nine points (3-7-10).
Kasperi Kapanen– Has drawn a team-high three penalties through two games of the series.- Has appeared in 22 career playoff games and recorded five points (4-1-5).
  
Alex Kerfoot– Leads the Maple Leafs in hits with six through two games.- Has appeared in 20 career playoff games and recorded five points (2-3-5).
Mitch Marner– Had a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 68.1 percent (47 for, 22 against) which leads the Maple Leafs.- Has appeared in 22 career playoff games and recorded 17 career points (5-12-17).
Auston Matthews– Ranks third among NHL forwards in ice time per game (23:22) through two games of the series.- Had his fourth career multi-point playoff game on August 4 vs. Columbus (1-1-2). – Has skated in 22 career playoff games and recorded 11 goals and four assists.- Per NHL Stats, Matthews’ 11 career playoff goals (20 GP) are tied for the second-most among Maple Leafs before age 23. He trails Ted Kennedy (20 G in 38 GP) and is tied with Wendel Clark (11 G in 23 GP).
William Nylander– Registered his first point of the postseason with an assist on August 4 vs. Columbus. Has started 65.2 percent of his 5-on-shifts in the offensive zone.- Has recorded three goals and eight assists in 20 career playoff games.
Jason Spezza– Leads the Maple Leafs in career playoff games (82), goals (25), assists (45) and points (70).
John Tavares– Recorded his first point of the playoffs with a goal on August 4 vs. Columbus. Leads the Maple Leafs in shots on goal (10) through two games. – Has skated in 33 career playoff games and recorded 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists).
  

INJURY REPORT

Andreas Johnsson (Knee)On injured reserve.
Jake MuzzinLeft Toronto’s game on August 4 and has been ruled out for the remainder of the series.

MAPLE LEAFS – BLUE JACKETS FINAL 2019-20 TEAM STATS

 TORONTOCOLUMBUS
GOALS FOR (Rank):237 (2nd)180 (t-28th)
GOALS AGAINST (Rank):     222 (25th)183 (t-3rd)
POWER PLAY [%] (Rank):45/195 [23.8%] (6th)31/189 [16.4%] (27th)
PENALTY KILL [%] (Rank):150/193 [77.7%] (21st)138/169 [81.7%] (12th)
SHOTS (Rank):2302 (4th)2272 (6th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPTS FOR (Rank):3466 (3rd)3133 (14th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT % (Rank):52.0% (6th)49.2% (19th)
FACEOFF % (Rank):52.5% (3rd)48.5% (26th)

MAPLE LEAFS 2019-20 LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADER
GOALS47 (Matthews)
ASSISTS51 (Marner)
POINTS80 (Matthews)
POWER PLAY POINTS25 (Matthews)
SHORTHANDED POINTS2 (Engvall, Kapanen)
PIMs43 (Holl)
SHOTS290 (Matthews)
FACEOFF WIN%55.3% (Tavares)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %54.6% (Nylander)
BLOCKED SHOTS110 (Muzzin)
TAKEAWAYS78 (Matthews)
HITS109 (Muzzin)
TOI PER GAME24:12 (Rielly)
PP TOI PER GAME3:13 (Marner)
SH TOI PER GAME2:50 (Ceci)

TORONTO 3, COLUMBUS 0: What the Leafs said:

SHELDON KEEFE

Q. (Chris Johnston, Sportsnet): I’m wondering if you could tell us if Jake was taken to hospital and if you have any update on his condition yet? 

SHELDON KEEFE: Yeah, he was taken to hospital. I’m told he’s responsive and all of that. Just awaiting his assessment. 

Q. (Josh Clipperton, The Canadian Press): Just wondering what the difference was today. You guys were able to generate a lot more. What was the difference from game one? 

SHELDON KEEFE: Every game is going to be slightly different, it’s going to have its own personality. Today I thought we forechecked really hard right from the start of the game and some loose pucks became available, gave us an extra opportunity to attack the net. That was a really good sign for us but our guys brought it to another level today from a competitive standpoint and that really helped us in all regards.

Q. (Terry Koshan, Toronto Sun): What was happening in the defensive zone that really negated the forecheck that Columbus had in game one? What were you guys doing a lot better today? 

SHELDON KEEFE: Well we were doing a better job up ice in their half of the ice. As a result, most of the time when it entered our half of the ice they were in line changes and not forechecking as a full unit. That makes it a lot easier for us. That’s obviously every team’s goal going into a game and today worked out for us there. 

Q. (Kevin McGran, Toronto Star): I guess if Jake Muzzin is going to hospital he’s out of the bubble and can’t come back even if he could. What will you have to do without him? What will losing him mean to this team?

SHELDON KEEFE: I’m not really certain on exactly what the protocol is for this situation. There are protocols in place for these types of situations and I’m not exactly certain what the details are. Our focus is and always will be just on his well-being and making sure he’s okay.

Q. (Mark Masters, TSN): Was there any frustration with the fact Korpisalo seemed locked in and you’re getting the chances and you couldn’t find the back of the net? How do you feel the group handled that?

SHELDON KEEFE: I think we handled it well. It was on my mind, of course, just making sure that we stayed with it. I just kept monitoring our bench and monitoring our players’ mannerisms and how they were coming back to the bench. You see guys talking to themselves and I think we were just focused, focused on what we had to do on the ice and staying with it. So that was really good to see. It was not unlike what happened in game one in terms of us just staying with it, but obviously we were generating more today so there was a little bit more happening in and around the net. The goalie was a big difference for them but I really liked how our guys just took a drink of water and got ready for the next shift and stayed with it and believed in what we were doing.

Q. (Ken Campbell, The Hockey News): Mitch [Marner] just said that on the Muzzin play when you guys asked the official what had happened, he said that he was crosschecked. If that’s the case, do you wonder why they don’t call that more in the NHL? It seems like the crosscheck goes so uncalled and that might have been a reason why something like this could have happened. 

SHELDON KEEFE: I think the refs are out there doing their best, doing their job and I’ve got to focus on doing my job, which is preparing our team and keeping us ready to go and that moment there was about keeping us focused. A lot of things happen in the game and it’s our job to just play through it. 

Q. (Sean Farrell, NHL.com): What has Fred [Andersen’s] play through the first two games meant to the team? 

SHELDON KEEFE: It means a great deal. Obviously, goaltender is very important. You’re seeing it on the other side as well with Columbus. He gives us belief in what we’re doing and if we crack, he’s going to be there for us. It’s two excellent games by him here now. Today when we did crack and they had a little bit of a look or a little bit of a push, he was there. He gives our guys even more life and energy.

AUSTON MATTHEWS AND JOHN TAVARES

Q. (Josh Clipperton, The Canadian Press): What’s it like, the feeling of being two minutes away from the win and then seeing a teammate go down like that and just the quietness of the building? 

JOHN TAVARES: No question, seeing one of your teammates go down, especially a guy like Muzz, you know the type of warrior he is. I think what he brings to our team is unmeasurable. Obviously, very tough. All signs are very positive being around him and nice to close it out for him, but certainly tough to see, especially how much we love that guy. 

Q. (Terry Koshan, Toronto Sun): Auston, could I get your thoughts on the goal that you scored and what you were feeling after Korpisalo had stopped the first 55 shots he saw in games one and two? 

AUSTON MATTHEWS: Yeah, obviously excitement. It’s postseason, everything is tight out there and goals are hard to come by. It was nice to get that one and kind of jump start a nice push. I thought we played pretty well in the first period and second period and I think we just tried to stick with it. [Hyman] made a great play and I just tried to deflect it towards the net and it just happened to go in.

Q. (Rosie DiManno, Toronto Star): Question for John, earlier on in the first and second period, there were times when you were shaking your head during the power play and casting eyes to the ceiling in disbelief. Can you just contrast that with the celebration on your goal? 

JOHN TAVARES: He made some great saves. I thought there was a couple that were deflected and were a little bit more fortunate on his side, but he’s obviously playing really well, he’s a really good goalie. You want to see those go in. I just tried to focus on the next shift, next opportunity. On the goal they really were aggressive and I think both D kind of jumped in and I was our last forward coming back and I kind of saw the play getting broken up so as I saw that, I just kind of anticipate that puck might be coming the other way so I was able to get a good bead on it and lucky enough to get that opportunity and nice to finish it off, especially after some of the chances I had. 

Q. (Chris Johnston, Sportsnet): Auston, I’m wondering what the biggest factor was for the team in being able to create so many good looks in this versus the first one?  

AUSTON MATTHEWS: I think both games, to be honest, we had some pretty good looks, probably more so tonight. I think just upping our compete level, getting to the net, dirty areas and trying to get on the inside where we can beat guys to the net. I thought we came out with a strong push to start the game and I think just the communication factor was there tonight for us and just full effort throughout the lineup. 

Q. (Mark Masters, TSN): John, what allowed you guys to do a better job generating chances off the rush considering how well Columbus usually does against that? 

JOHN TAVARES: I think we were just quicker tonight and that’s not just necessarily the way we’re moving our feet but I think just our execution and the way we moved the puck. I thought D did a great job of just handling their forecheck, which they do really well, and then I think as forwards we were just in sync reading off each other and doing good job of, when we had to, getting pucks in behind and getting on the inside and first on those races that allowed us to then set up the next couple of plays to break them down and create some opportunities, some more possessions. Obviously, it was a positive tonight for us, it’s something we have to continue, especially when you expect them to make some adjustments. I like the way we were just in sync and connected today.

Q. (Marty Klinkenberg, The Globe and Mail): In a game like this where you very much dominated but still it’s late in the second and it’s 0-0, does it start to get more tense as you’re playing? 

JOHN TAVARES: Certainly those thoughts can creep in, but I think as a team when we’re playing like that I think we have so much belief in each other. I think the type of team we have that eventually it’s going to pay off, we’re going to find a way to break through. Don’t get discouraged and stick with it, we’re playing, we’re doing the things we want to do, we’re creating opportunities. Just sticking with it and not getting discouraged, like I said, just kind of staying one shift at a time. A little cliche but you’re just kind of staying in the moment, waiting for the next opportunity. Great play by [Matthews] to break the ice for us. It was a big goal and something he always does for us. As a team we just kind of fed off one another and he led the way. 

FREDERIK ANDERSEN AND MITCH MARNER

Q (Kevin McGran, Toronto Star): Your thoughts on seeing Jake Muzzin go down. He’s been such a warrior for you guys and so close to the end of the game too. What’s going through your head when you’re seeing him lying there in injury and being taken off on a stretcher? 

FREDERIK ANDERSEN: Yeah it’s difficult. Seeing a guy like Jake that everyone cares about, he’s well loved in the locker room. Being as tough as he is it’s really hard to see him being told to lay down and not move. We’re really just thinking about him and making sure all the right steps are being taken and hopefully he recovers soon. 

MITCH MARNER: Yeah, just like Freddie said, he’s a big part of this team, penalty kill, even-strength against the best players against the other teams. He really does mean a lot to us. Being beside him there when he went down and stayed down, obviously it’s a little worrisome and to see the stretcher come out, a lot of things running through your mind. Like Freddie said we’re all on his side, we’re all praying for him and just want to make sure when he does come back he’s 100 percent. There are a lot bigger things than hockey.

Q (Josh Clipperton, Canadian Press): For Freddie, what are you thinking when you’re seeing the guy at the other stop shot after shot? I think it was the 55th or 56th shot that they finally found a way through. What’s your mindset when you see the other guy doing that? 

FREDERIK ANDERSEN: Just keep doing what I’m doing. What happens in their end is useless to think about. Just keep doing what I can do and be ready for when they do come. They’re putting a hell of a pressure on him and both games I think we’ve had the puck a lot and obviously been playing well, but I think we did a better job of getting in and getting second chances and having confidence in guys being able to score. 

Q. (Jonas Siegel, The Athletic): Mitch, you were right there with Jake. When did you realize something wasn’t right? 

MITCH MARNER: I just remember clearing the puck, I remember kind of turning over and seeing him on the ground. Kind of saw him get up on all fours. At this time I think the puck just exit, I was still kind of standing beside him and then I realized after drawing up to the blueline to try and stop them from entering, they dumped it in and hit the ref. At that point he was back down, full lying down. I just kind of skated over to him, I just asked him if he was okay. Obviously, he just kind of said, just give him a second and a couple of other things that doesn’t matter, it’ll stay between us. Like I said, we just want to make sure all the right things are happening to make sure he’s back to being 100 percent. He’s a big part of this team. Hopefully he recovers quickly. Like I said, there’s a lot bigger things than hockey, especially outside this world and his family is a major priority. You’ve got to make sure you’re able to still play with your kids. 

Q. (Mark Masters, TSN): What was it like reuniting with Auston and how did you feel your game grew in today’s game versus game one? 

MITCH MARNER: For myself I think I was just a lot more competitive with the puck, on the puck, a lot more dialed into my battles and being better consistently all over the ice. I think we worked the puck nicely around, we were using our speed, something we’re going to have to just keep doing and keep using our speed coming through the middle and supporting each other. The chemistry kind of just kicked right back with [Hyman] as well and we were making plays, we’ve just got to find ways to get around these guys trying to block our shots. 

Q. (Ken Campbell, The Hockey News): Mitch, I just wanted to ask you as a forward out there who’s in the thick of the battle, that hit on Jake Muzzin was a crosscheck from behind. It was a fairly innocuous one but still a crosscheck from behind that seems to go uncalled almost all the time in this league now. Do you think the League has to do more about crosschecking now? A couple of years ago it was the casual slash and now they’re cracking down on that. Do you think they need to crack down on the crosscheck? 

MITCH MARNER: It’s hard for me to say at this moment. I was beside [Muzzin] when the play happened and I was turning and shooting it while he was coming down so I haven’t seen the actual play yet. I think the player’s off two to three feet from the boards and a crosscheck does happen, usually it doesn’t matter how good you are on your feet, there’s a possible chance of you going head first into the boards. It’s always a scary incident. Like I said, I have not seen that play yet, reviewed or on my phone or anything like that, but we were asking the refs and their response was just he got pushed, he got crosschecked, he hit one other player and that’s how it all happened. I think usually when a player is two or three feet from the wall, that’s when the dangerous stuff happens and the injuries come in part. Like I said, I haven’t seen it, we’ll leave it to the League to discuss what they think is necessary. 

MAPLE LEAFS 3, BLUE JACKETS 0: Postgame notes

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (1-1) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (1-1)

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020

 123OTFINAL
COLUMBUS000–0
TORONTO012–3

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

POSTGAME QUOTES:

  • Tonight’s postgame transcript will be updated as it becomes available HERE.
  • The final transcript will be posted to MapleLeafs.com/pressbox


ON THE SCORESHEET

  • Auston Matthews opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs at 16:00 of the second period and later had the primary assist on Morgan Rielly’s third period goal. Today’s game is his fourth career multi-point game in the playoffs. He recorded a career-high 47 goals in 70 games during the 2019-20 regular season to finish the year with 80 points (47 goals, 33 assists). In 22 career playoff games, Matthews has recorded 11 goals and four assists for 15 points. His 11 career playoff goals are tied for the second-most in franchise history by a skater before the age of 23 (Wendel Clark, 11 G in 23 GP).
  • John Tavares scored Toronto’s second goal of the night at 4:56 of the third period. Tavares’ goal is his first point of the 2020 postseason. In 63 games during the 2019-20 season, he recorded 26 goals and 34 assists. He has 14 goals and 14 assists in 33 career playoff games.
  • Morgan Rielly scored the third Maple Leafs goal of the game into an empty net at 19:17 of the third period. Rielly’s goal is his first point of the playoffs. He recorded 27 points (3-24-27) in 47 games during the regular season. In 22 career playoff games, Rielly has registered 16 points (3-13-16).
  • Zach Hyman registered the lone assist on Matthews’ second period goal. Hyman’s assist is his first point of the 2020 playoffs. In 51 regular season games, he recorded 37 points (21 goals, 16 assists). He has 10 points (3-7-10) in 22 career playoff games.
  • Travis Dermott recorded the primary assist on Tavares’ third period goal. Dermott’s assist is his first point of the playoffs. He has 12 points (4-8-12) in 56 games during the 2019-20 season. In 16 career playoff games, Dermott has registered two goals and three assists.
  • William Nylander collected the secondary assist on Tavares’ third period goal. Nylander’s assist is his first point of the postseason. He had 59 points (31 goals, 28 assists) in 68 games during the regular season. In 22 career playoff games, he has recorded three goals and nine assists for 12 points.
  • Alex Kerfoot had the secondary assist on Rielly’s empty net goal. Kerfoot’s assist is his first point of the playoffs. He had 28 points (9-19-28) in 65 games this season. In 20 career playoff games, he has recorded six points (2-4-6).
  • Frederik Andersen stopped all 20 shots he faced to earn the victory. The win is his third career postseason shutout and first with the Maple Leafs.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
COLUMBUS6 (3)6 (1)8 (6)–20 (10)
TORONTO15 (11)14 (8)10 (8)–39 (27)

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
COLUMBUS19 (12)12 (6)16 (11)–47 (29)
TORONTO25 (17)26 (16)20 (14)–71 (47)

OF NOTE…

  • The Maple Leafs went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 0-for-5 on the power play tonight.
  • Pierre Engvall made his Stanley Cup playoff debut.
  • Auston Matthews was on the ice for a team-high 24 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5. He finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 72.7 percent (24 for, 9 against). 
  • Jake Muzzin left tonight’s game due to injury.
  • John Tavares won 80 percent (4 won, 1 lost) of his defensive zone faceoffs. 

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots8 (Tavares)
Shot Attempts12 (Marner)
Faceoff Wins11 (Tavares)
Faceoff Win Percentage67% (Hyman)
Hits3 (Kerfoot, Muzzin)
Blocked Shots3 (Muzzin)
Takeaways1 (Marner, Matthews, Muzzin)
TOI24:37 (Rielly)
Power Play TOI7:41 (Matthews)
Shorthanded TOI5:01 (Holl)
Shifts31 (Rielly)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage75.0% (Marner – 21 for, 7 against)
  

UPCOMING GAMES:

  • Thursday, August 6, 8 p.m., Toronto at Columbus (TBD)
  • Friday, August 7, TBD, Toronto at Columbus (TBD)
  • Sunday, August 9, TBD, Columbus at Toronto (TBD)*
    *If Necessary

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.

BLUE JACKETS-MAPLE LEAFS PREGAME NOTES

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (1-0) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (0-1)

AUGUST 4, 2020 ▪ 4:00 PM EST

SCOTIABANK ARENA (TORONTO, ON) ▪
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: TSN 1050

MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY versus COLUMBUS


ALL-TIME RECORD: 14-11-1-4
ALL-TIME at HOME: 6-6-1-3

ALL-TIME PLAYOFF SERIES RECORD: 0-0

ALL-TIME PLAYOFF RECORD: 0-1
2019-20: 1-0-1

THE SERIES SO FAR

GAME ONE – AUGUST 2, 2020: Columbus 2 vs. Toronto 0

GAME SUMMARY        |           EVENT SUMMARY       |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: N/A

Columbus Goals: Atkinson, Wennberg

TOR PP: 0/1; CBJ PP: 0/2

Shots: 35-28 Columbus; Hits: 37-26 Columbus; Faceoff %: 58% Toronto

MAPLE LEAFS SERIES LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADERCATEGORYLEADER
GOALSN/ABLOCKED SHOTS3 (Ceci, Kerfoot)
ASSISTSN/ATAKEAWAYS3 (Matthews)
POINTSN/AHITS4 (Kapanen)
SHOTS6 (Matthews)TOI PER GAME24:38 (Matthews)
FACEOFF WIN%79.0% (Tavares)PP TOI PER GAME1:32 (Five players tied)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %63.4% (Marner)SH TOI PER GAME2:33 (Holl)

MAPLE LEAFS CAREER LEADERS versus COLUMBUS

GAMES: John Tavares (27), Jason Spezza (22), Kyle Clifford (20), Morgan Rielly (20)
POINTS: John Tavares (33), Mitch Marner (12), Jason Spezza (12)

GOALS: John Tavares (14), Mitch Marner (5), Jason Spezza (4)

ASSISTS: John Tavares (19), Morgan Rielly (9), Tyson Barrie (9)

PENALTY MINUTES: Kyle Clifford (23), John Tavares (16), Jake Muzzin (14)

BLUE JACKETS CAREER LEADERS versus TORONTO

GAMES: Nick Foligno (46), Brandon Dubinsky (32), Gustav Nyquist (27)

POINTS: Brandon Dubinsky (23), Nick Foligno (22), Gustav Nyquist (20)

GOALS: Gustav Nyquist (11), Nick Foligno (10), Brandon Dubinsky (7)

ASSISTS: Brandon Dubinsky (16), Nick Foligno (12), Seth Jones (9), Gustav Nyquist (9)

PENALTY MINUTES: Nick Foligno (38), Brandon Dubinsky (26), Nathan Gerbe (16)

MAPLE LEAFS ACTIVE PLAYOFF LEADERS

GAMES: Jason Spezza (81), Jake Muzzin (58), Kyle Clifford (56)

POINTS: Jason Spezza (70), John Tavares (27), Jake Muzzin (22)
GOALS: Jason Spezza (25), John Tavares (13), Auston Matthews (10)

ASSISTS: Jason Spezza (45), Jake Muzzin (15), John Tavares (14)
PENALTY MINUTES: Kyle Clifford (62), Jason Spezza (28), Jake Muzzin (20)

2019-20 SEASON SERIES

October 4, 2019: Toronto 4 vs. Columbus 1

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Marner (2), Ceci, Matthews

Columbus Goals: Atkinson

October 21, 2019: Columbus 4 vs. Toronto 3 OT

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Kapanen, Matthews, Nylander

Boston Goals: Nash, Dubois, Wennberg, Nyquist

MAPLE LEAFS SNAPSHOTS

Postseason Appearances– The 2020 postseason marks the Maple Leafs’ 69th appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Series History– The Maple Leafs have played a total of 114 series in their previous 68 playoff appearances, winning 58 of them.
Playoff Record– Toronto has a record of 262-285-4 in 551 franchise playoff games.
Best of Five– The Toronto franchise (Arenas, St. Pats, Maple Leafs) has played in 15 best-of-five series in its history and have a 7-8 record in that span
Toronto vs. Columbus– This is the first time the Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets have met in a postseason series.
Postseason Experience– Frederik Andersen, Kasperi Kapanen, Zach Hyman, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly have appeared in all 20 postseason games contested by the Maple Leafs since the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, per NHL Stats.
In the Atlantic– Toronto finished third in the Atlantic Division and 13th in the NHL standings with a record of 36-25-9 (.569 points percentage).
Team Discipline– The Maple Leafs took the sixth-fewest penalties in the NHL (219) and averaged the third-fewest penalty minutes per game (6.7). 
Faceoffs– The Maple Leafs finished third among NHL teams in faceoff win percentage (52.5%) and tied for second among NHL teams in offensive zone faceoff win percentage (54.0%).
Goals by Strength– The Maple Leafs were third in the NHL in goals scored at 5-on-5 (159).
Power Play– The Maple Leafs have the third fewest power play opportunities (195) among NHL teams that have scored at least 40 power play goals (45).
Penalty Kill– Toronto was shorthanded 193 times this season, which was the eighth-fewest times shorthanded in the NHL.
Scoring First– Toronto had a .774 win percentage when scoring first, which tied for the third highest in the NHL.

MAPLE LEAFS NOTABLES

Frederik Andersen– Stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced in game one. He has allowed one or fewer goals in 12 of his 49 playoff appearances.- Since joining the Maple Leafs in 2016-17, Andersen is 8-12 in 21 Stanley Cup Playoffs appearances. Only nine goaltenders have recorded more postseason wins in a Toronto uniform.
Tyson Barrie– Had four shots on goal and seven shot attempts in game one vs. Columbus in 19:13 of ice time.- Has appeared in 22 career playoff games and recorded 14 points (one goal, 13 assists).
Jack Campbell– Could make his Stanley Cup playoff debut this postseason.- Had a 3-2-1 record with a .915 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average after being acquired by the Maple Leafs.- Has made two career appearances against the Blue Jackets and is 1-0-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
Cody Ceci– Tied for the Maple Leaf lead in blocked shots (3) in game one.- Has skated in 26 career playoff games, recording three assists.
Kyle Clifford– Has appeared in 56 career playoff games and is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion (2012, 2014) with the Los Angeles Kings.
Justin Holl– Played 21:41 in ice time in game one, leading all skaters in shorthanded ice time (2:33).- Made his Stanley Cup playoff debut on August 2 vs. Columbus. 
Zach Hyman– Played 21:21 in game one of the series, which is his highest ice time in a playoff game that ended in regulation.- Has appeared in 21 career playoff games and recorded nine points (3-6-9).
Kasperi Kapanen– Led the Maple Leafs in hits (4) in game one against Columbus.- Has appeared in 21 career playoff games and recorded five points (4-1-5).
  
Alex Kerfoot– Tied for the team lead with three blocked shots in game one.- Has appeared in 19 career playoff games and recorded five points (2-3-5).
Mitch Marner– Had a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 63.4 percent (26 for, 11 against) which leads the Maple Leafs.- Has appeared in 21 career playoff games and recorded 17 career points (5-12-17).
Auston Matthews– Led the Maple Leafs in ice time (24:38) and shots on goal (6) in game one. Won 64.7 percent (11 won, 6 lost) of his faceoffs.- Has skated in 21 career playoff games and recorded 10 goals and three assists.- Per NHL Stats, Matthews’ 10 career playoff goals (20 GP) is the third-most among Maple Leafs before age 23. He trails Ted Kennedy (20 G in 38 GP) and Wendel Clark (11 G in 23 GP).
William Nylander– Played 21:51 in game one against the Blue Jackets.- Has recorded three goals and eight assists in 20 career playoff games.
Jason Spezza– Leads the Maple Leafs in career playoff games (81), goals (25), assists (45) and points (70).
John Tavares– Won 79 percent (15 won, 4 lost) of his faceoffs in game one, which is the highest percentage among playoff skaters who took over 10 draws.- Has skated in 32 career playoff games and recorded 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists).
  

INJURY REPORT

Andreas Johnsson (Knee)On injured reserve.

MAPLE LEAFS – BLUE JACKETS FINAL 2019-20 TEAM STATS

 TORONTOCOLUMBUS
GOALS FOR (Rank):237 (2nd)180 (t-28th)
GOALS AGAINST (Rank):     222 (25th)183 (t-3rd)
POWER PLAY [%] (Rank):45/195 [23.8%] (6th)31/189 [16.4%] (27th)
PENALTY KILL [%] (Rank):150/193 [77.7%] (21st)138/169 [81.7%] (12th)
SHOTS (Rank):2302 (4th)2272 (6th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPTS FOR (Rank):3466 (3rd)3133 (14th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT % (Rank):52.0% (6th)49.2% (19th)
FACEOFF % (Rank):52.5% (3rd)48.5% (26th)

MAPLE LEAFS 2019-20 LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADER
GOALS47 (Matthews)
ASSISTS51 (Marner)
POINTS80 (Matthews)
POWER PLAY POINTS25 (Matthews)
SHORTHANDED POINTS2 (Engvall, Kapanen)
PIMs43 (Holl)
SHOTS290 (Matthews)
FACEOFF WIN%55.3% (Tavares)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %54.6% (Nylander)
BLOCKED SHOTS110 (Muzzin)
TAKEAWAYS78 (Matthews)
HITS109 (Muzzin)
TOI PER GAME24:12 (Rielly)
PP TOI PER GAME3:13 (Marner)
SH TOI PER GAME2:50 (Ceci)

Keefe gets rough playoff baptism — Toronto Sun

Read More

Keefe gets rough playoff baptism — Toronto Sun

If it makes Sheldon Keefe feel better, Pat Burns and Pat Quinn both lost their first playoff games behind the Maple Leafs bench and did fine in the bigger picture of post-season success.

But there’s more urgency when down one in a COVID-19 condensed best-of-five.Unlike the aforementioned pair, whose teams were just happy to be at the dance after years on the sidelines, the 2020 Leafs are built for more immediate success. Now that he’s seen the lay of the land — no home comforts at barren Scotiabank Arena, a feisty foe, a 2-0 loss, and some shortcomings in team execution — Keefe insists his team can counterpunch Tuesday at 4 p.m.

First, he needs more than Auston Matthews to drive the net, even though the leading scorer also caught the full brunt of Blue Jackets defencemen Seth Jones and Zach Werenski. Linemates John Tavares and Mitch Marner, meanwhile, were rarely able to get near the blue paint.

“Taking care of the puck, putting it in intelligent spots, finding different ways to get involved offensively,” Keefe listed for the duo. “This team, as we fully expected, would make it really hard, especially on the rush where Mitch and John have a lot of success. We know we’re facing the No. 1 team in the league defending the rush and because of that, we have to find different ways to score.”

More frequently mentioned whenever public complaints are lodged against Leafs kept on the perimeter is William Nylander. Sunday made it 21 playoff games with just three goals, but Keefe was quick to hush the critics, saying he ranked him with Matthews as the strongest catalysts to get on the board.

“I felt it and the stats back it up — (Nylander) had the puck on his stick more than anyone on our team in the offensive zone,” Keefe claimed “He was not a problem for us.”

There could be a lineup change, either with more stacking of Matthews with Marner and Tavares in 5-on-5 gambits or Pierre Engvall replacing Frederik Gauthier as fourth line centre. Engvall practiced there Monday.

“Pierre didn’t have a great camp,” Keefe summarized. “We think he has more to offer. At his best, he makes us a better team, but we haven’t seen his best. When he gets back in the lineup, we expect him to really push to stay. We need him to be physical, skating, doing all the things he’s capable of.”

ROOKIE ROCKS

As a colleague joked in SBA’s frigid 300 level press area, Nick Robertson would’ve got a Legend’s Row statue had he scored Sunday on that first shift chance, based on so many camp stories written about him. Joonas Korpisalo denied him, but it was an impressive start for the 18-year-old. Like the rest of the Leafs, his energy level waned as the Jackets stiffened.

“It went by so fast,” Robertson said of the Kasperi Kapanen set-up on Korpisalo. “Unfortunately, he got to the left side where I wanted, but it was a good save.

“Personally, I thought I did better than expected. There’s obviously a lot more at stake given my debut’s in playoffs and I’m not given more than one exhibition, but (Tuesday) I’ll be a little more confident, hopefully get more shots off and stick to more of my game.”

COLUMBUS BLOCK PARTY

The Leafs are finding there’s a lot more than Jones and Werenski when it comes to picking the lock on the Jackets’ defence. David Savard had five shot blocks in Game 1, part of 18 throughout their lineup and he and Vladislav Gavrikov formed an effective pairing.

“Savvy has it tattooed on his head he’s going to block shots, that’s a big part of his game,” praised Columbus coach John Tortorella. “(But) after Game 1, I think we need to be even better.”

Tavares noted the Jackets collectively “don’t sell out” when they do get in lanes, giving themselves block options with their bodies and sticks. They take away enough ice that Korpisalo can concern himself with setting up to guard sides and top corners.

“We have to break them down, draw them away from the net, make them defend in their end consistently. I’d like to think we can wear them down over 60 minutes.”

WELCOME HOME

Until Sunday, It had been more than 27 years since a Foligno had a playoff point in Toronto. Columbus captain Nick Foligno’s assist on Alex Wennberg’s empty netter links to papa Mike’s helper on Wendel Clark’s marker in the Leafs’5-4 defeat to Los Angeles in Game 7 of the conference final.

“It’s always a little nostalgic coming back here,” said Nick, who was kindergarten age when Mike was traded here from Buffalo. “The memories of ‘92-93, the way my dad was treated … it’s a place he thinks fondly of and has a lot of great hockey memories of.”

LOOSE LEAFS

If you’ve not heard much of Korpisalo, he was taken to lead off the third round of the 2012 draft. The five goalies selected ahead of him included first rounder Andrei Vasilevskiy, the all-star with Tampa Bay … Frederik Andersen brought his playoff goals-against average under 3.00 with 33 saves Sunday, but he’s now lost 12 of 21 playoff games … Toronto’s Cup odds took a hit after Sunday. BetOnline.com pushed them from 22-to-1 to 40-1, now ranked with Game 1 losers Nashville and the Rangers. Columbus’s 66-to-1 odds didn’t move, with Colorado at 13-to-2 now favoured to win it all … Alex Stalock, with the shutout for the Wild on Sunday, is the same goalie who couldn’t get a shot with the Dubas/Keefe Marlies in 2015-16. Traded from San Jose in the James Reimer deal, he called being buried in the AHL depth chart the low point of his career. He’s also Minnesota’s Bill Masterton Trophy nominee.

lhornby@postmedia.com

COLUMBUS 2, TORONTO 0: WHAT THE LEAFS SAID: “Obviously, they did what they do best and what we were prepared for. We knew it was going to be difficult. Now we go out on the ice and you feel it. Obviously, we didn’t get one to fall for us here today. I thought we did have some chances to get more than what we got on the scoreboard, but it didn’t fall in for us, it fell in for them. That’s the difference.”

SHELDON KEEFE

Q. (Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun): Sheldon, how concerned were you about your offence tonight or was it just a case of Columbus doing what it does best? 

SHELDON KEEFE: I think it’s both. Obviously, they did what they do best and what we were prepared for. We knew it was going to be difficult. Now we go out on the ice and you feel it. Obviously, we didn’t get one to fall for us here today. I thought we did have some chances to get more than what we got on the scoreboard, but it didn’t fall in for us, it fell in for them. That’s the difference. 

Q. (Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun): How difficult is it when you’re putting Auston out there as much as possible and they’re matching with Jones as much as possible and there you have two of the great players in the NHL going up against each other? 

SHELDON KEEFE: It’s a tough matchup. We can’t forget Werenski in that equation also because he’s a great player, and their forwards. They play as a group of five so no matter who is on the ice it’s going to be hard. This is all stuff that we were prepared for coming in. As I said, now we’re on the ice and you feel it. We didn’t generate as much as I wish we could have. At the same, as I said, it’s a very tight hockey game out there. One falls in for them early in the third period after we had what I thought was a pretty dominant start to the third and thought we were going to be rolling pretty good. All of a sudden, you’re down and it changes the nature of the game from there. Obviously we’ve got to find a way to score.

Q. (Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star): This obviously was the team you expected, the game you expected. Is there anything about this game that makes you worry about the way your team matches up against Columbus going forward or could you see places where the Leafs can handle this matchup better? 

SHELDON KEEFE: Well, I think there’s going to be ways. We’re going to look closer at it and we’ll find ways that we can capitalize a little bit more on some of our opportunities and generate a little bit more. As I said, it’s a very tight game, it’s a good hockey team. It’s two teams that were tight together in the standings, two teams that are very competitive. I thought we played a good enough game to win today, but obviously you can’t win when you don’t score. We’ve got to work with that, but there’s a lot of things that we did do well in the game here today that gave us a chance going into the third period to win the hockey game. We’re going to have to regroup here obviously and push back and get one to go our way next time.  

Q. (Chris Johnston, Sportsnet): I’m just wondering what your thoughts were on Freddie’s performance. Made some big saves but he wasn’t happy with the goal that beat him. 

SHELDON KEEFE: I thought he did make some big saves, for sure. There was a few times they had some real quality looks. He was very good on those and there was some perimeter chances down the wing and stuff like that that he did a really good job of holding his ground on. Obviously, he misread the one in the third there that got by him, but he kept them to one goal. He, as far as I’m concerned, did his job. We’ve got to find a way to give him some help.

Q. (Justin Cuthbert, Yahoo Sports): It seemed Mitch Marner and John Tavares had trouble getting going tonight. What challenges did you see in front of them and what needs to happen for them to get going in the rest of the series? 

SHELDON KEEFE: I thought they had a pretty good first period, actually. They had some pretty good offensive zone shifts and were around the net a little bit. They didn’t really get a chance to build upon that so we’ll have to look at it a little bit closer. Obviously, that’s another part of it is they’ve got a tough matchup there too, right? Gavrikov and Savard are tough defenders just the same as we’ve already talked about the other two. It’s a tough matchup for them, we need to get a little bit more from them but we need more from everybody obviously. We didn’t get anything from anyone today, we only generated one power play. All those types of things make it harder than it needs to be, but we expected it to be hard, we expected it to be uncomfortable. I thought this one today could have gone either way. It didn’t go our way so we’ve got to regroup here and find a way to be better next time out. 

Q. (Kevin McGran, Toronto Star): Just a couple of words if you could on your third and fourth lines. Start with Nick Robertson, what you thought of a teenager playing in his first game tonight, and then also your decision to limit the Gauthier line, I guess obviously looking for offence there. 

SHELDON KEEFE: First, I thought Robbie had some good moments in the game. In fact, he had a great look early in the hockey game, just got the toe of the goaltender there and obviously that was a big moment that could have put us in a real good spot. It was good to see him get into that position, available to get the shot. Otherwise, I thought he was good in a game that was difficult to play. That would be, by far, the hardest game he’s ever played in, I would imagine. He’s going to have to continue to find his way through that. I thought that Kerfoot and Kappy again, I thought those guys had legs and they were on the puck and gave us some pretty good shifts as a line. As for our fourth line, I thought they had a real tough start to the game, some long sequences in our own zone, just not what you want out of your fourth line. It made it difficult to really find any sort of rhythm with them and then, of course, once we’re down early in the third period, it becomes even harder. 

AUSTON MATTHEWS & MORGAN RIELLY

Q. (Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun): What happened to you offensively tonight? What do you have to do in game two? 

MORGAN RIELLY: I don’t know. I think we’ve got to look at it. I think that there were chances that we generated, obviously not capitalizing on any, but I think there are good things you have to look at and areas we have to improve on and we’ll do that tomorrow at practice. 

Q. (Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun): It’s one thing to hear about how tight they play and to even watch the film of how tight they play. What was it like to experience it? 

AUSTON MATTHEWS: Well, first of all, it’s unfortunate that I’m getting a question from you at this point, Steve. I just wanted to say I didn’t really appreciate the article you wrote about me a couple months ago. It was a bit unethical, to be honest. Moving along, I thought they obviously play a really structured defence and they make it hard on you to get on the inside. I think we’ve just got to do a better job of maybe shooting more pucks and have guys coming down on it. 

Q. (Chris Johnston, Sportsnet): Was there anything that surprised you that they did or was it kind of what you guys were expecting? 

AUSTON MATTHEWS: I don’t think anything really surprised us. They play a pretty straightforward and you know what you’re going to expect every night. They’re going to compete, they’re going to play physical. I thought we did some good things, there are some things we can clean up. Obviously, we’ve got to create more offence, get guys more on the inside and capitalize on some opportunities. Their goalie made some good saves as well. 

Q. (Jonas Siegel, The Athletic): Auston, what’s it like to face somebody as big and who can move like Seth Jones, shift after shift? 

AUSTON MATTHEWS: They’re good players. They’re good on both sides of the puck. We’ve got to be aware when they’re out there and obviously try to be strong down low, physical on the offensive side as well as the defensive side. 

FREDERIK ANDERSEN & ZACH HYMAN 

Q. (Josh Clipperton, The Canadian Press): How frustrating is it to play against that team, their style? 

ZACH HYMAN: They play playoff hockey, this is playoff hockey. I thought we had our chances, we just couldn’t capitalize. You’re not going to win any games if you don’t score any goals. They got one and we couldn’t get on the board. 

Q. (Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star): Freddie, if you could just take us through what you saw on that goal and how it went for you? 

FREDERIK ANDERSEN: I saw him coming down the wing and his initial release looked to be a little bit higher. I reacted up and obviously made a little mistake. It cost us a goal and eventually the game, unfortunately. That’s what I saw. 

Q. (Jonas Siegel, The Athletic): Zach, what kind of challenges does Seth Jones present? 

ZACH HYMAN: He’s obviously an elite defenceman. He’s big and strong, he can skate. He plays well on the defensive side and the offensive side. Just trying to make his life and just out there and battle against him.

BLUE JACKETS 2, MAPLE LEAFS 0. Postgame notes.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (1-0) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (0-1)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2020

 123OTFINAL
COLUMBUS002–2
TORONTO000–0

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

POSTGAME QUOTES:

  • Tonight’s postgame transcript will be updated as it becomes available HERE.
  • The final transcript will be posted to MapleLeafs.com/pressbox


ON THE SCORESHEET

  • Frederik Andersen stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced in the loss.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
COLUMBUS8 (8)14 (11)13 (11)–35 (30)
TORONTO11 (10)8 (6)9 (9)–28 (25)

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
COLUMBUS24 (21)24 (20)21 (17)–69 (58)
TORONTO24 (23)19 (16)19 (19)–62 (58)

OF NOTE…

  • The Maple Leafs went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 0-for-1 on the power play tonight.
  • Justin Holl made his Stanley Cup playoff debut.
  • Auston Matthews won 75 percent (6 won, 2 lost) of his offensive zone faceoffs. He was 4-for-6 (67%) on the draw when matched up with Columbus centre Pierre-Luc Dubois.
  • Ilya Mikheyev made his Stanley Cup playoff debut.
  • Nick Robertson made his Stanley Cup playoff debut. He is the fifth Maple Leaf in franchise history to appear in a postseason game with the Maple Leafs at age 18 or younger and the first since the 1940s, per NHL Stats.
  • John Tavares was on the ice for a team-high 29 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5. He finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 60.4 percent (29 for, 19 against). 
  • John Tavares won 70 percent (7 won, 3 lost) of his offensive zone faceoffs. He was 8-for-10 (80%) in the faceoff circle when matched up with Columbus centre Alexander Wennberg. 

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots6 (Matthews)
Shot Attempts8 (Matthews)
Faceoff Wins15 (Tavares)
Faceoff Win Percentage79% (Tavares)
Hits4 (Kapanen)
Blocked Shots3 (Ceci, Kerfoot)
Takeaways3 (Matthews)
TOI24:38 (Matthews)
Power Play TOI1:32 (Five players tied)
Shorthanded TOI2:33 (Holl)
Shifts26 (Five players tied)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage63.4% (Marner – 26 for, 15 against)
  

UPCOMING GAMES:

  • Tuesday, August 4, 4 p.m., Columbus at Toronto (SN, NBCSN, TVA Sports)
  • Thursday, August 6, TBD, Toronto at Columbus (TBD)
  • Friday, August 7, TBD, Toronto at Columbus (TBD)*
  • Sunday, August 9, TBD, Columbus at Toronto (TBD)*
    *If Necessary

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.

BLUE JACKETS-MAPLE LEAFS PREGAME NOTES: The Maple Leafs have played a total of 114 series in their previous 68 playoff appearances, winning 58 of them.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (0-0) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (0-0)

AUGUST 2, 2020 ▪ 8:00 PM EST

SCOTIABANK ARENA (TORONTO, ON) ▪
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN

MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY versus COLUMBUS


ALL-TIME RECORD: 14-11-1-4
ALL-TIME at HOME: 6-6-1-3

ALL-TIME PLAYOFF SERIES RECORD: 0-0

ALL-TIME PLAYOFF RECORD: 0-0
2019-20: 1-0-1

MAPLE LEAFS CAREER LEADERS versus COLUMBUS

GAMES: John Tavares (27), Jason Spezza (22), Kyle Clifford (20), Morgan Rielly (20)
POINTS: John Tavares (33), Mitch Marner (12), Jason Spezza (12)

GOALS: John Tavares (14), Mitch Marner (5), Jason Spezza (4)

ASSISTS: John Tavares (19), Morgan Rielly (9), Tyson Barrie (9)

PENALTY MINUTES: Kyle Clifford (23), John Tavares (16), Jake Muzzin (14)

BLUE JACKETS CAREER LEADERS versus TORONTO

GAMES: Nick Foligno (46), Brandon Dubinsky (32), Gustav Nyquist (27)

POINTS: Brandon Dubinsky (23), Nick Foligno (22), Gustav Nyquist (20)

GOALS: Gustav Nyquist (11), Nick Foligno (10), Brandon Dubinsky (7)

ASSISTS: Brandon Dubinsky (16), Nick Foligno (12), Seth Jones (9), Gustav Nyquist (9)

PENALTY MINUTES: Nick Foligno (38), Brandon Dubinsky (26), Nathan Gerbe (16)

MAPLE LEAFS ACTIVE PLAYOFF LEADERS

GAMES: Jason Spezza (80), Jake Muzzin (57), Kyle Clifford (55)

POINTS: Jason Spezza (70), John Tavares (27), Jake Muzzin (22)
GOALS: Jason Spezza (25), John Tavares (13), Auston Matthews (10)

ASSISTS: Jason Spezza (45), Jake Muzzin (15), John Tavares (14)
PENALTY MINUTES: Kyle Clifford (62), Jason Spezza (28), Jake Muzzin (20)

2019-20 SEASON SERIES

October 4, 2019: Toronto 4 vs. Columbus 1

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Marner (2), Ceci, Matthews

Columbus Goals: Atkinson

October 21, 2019: Columbus 4 vs. Toronto 3 OT

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

Toronto Goals: Kapanen, Matthews, Nylander

Columbus Goals: Nash, Dubois, Wennberg, Nyquist

MAPLE LEAFS SNAPSHOTS

Postseason Appearances– The 2020 postseason marks the Maple Leafs’ 69th appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Series History– The Maple Leafs have played a total of 114 series in their previous 68 playoff appearances, winning 58 of them.
Playoff Record– Toronto has a record of 262-285-4 in 551 franchise playoff games.
Best of Five– The Toronto franchise (Arenas, St. Pats, Maple Leafs) has played in 15 best-of-five series in its history and have a 7-8 record in that span
Toronto vs. Columbus– This is the first time the Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets have met in a postseason series.
Postseason Experience– Frederik Andersen, Kasperi Kapanen, Zach Hyman, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly have appeared in all 20 postseason games contested by the Maple Leafs since the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, per NHL Stats.
In the Atlantic– Toronto finished third in the Atlantic Division and 13th in the NHL standings with a record of 36-25-9 (.569 points percentage).
Team Discipline– The Maple Leafs took the sixth-fewest penalties in the NHL (219) and averaged the third-fewest penalty minutes per game (6.7). 
Faceoffs– The Maple Leafs finished third among NHL teams in faceoff win percentage (52.5%) and tied for second among NHL teams in offensive zone faceoff win percentage (54.0%).
Goals by Strength– The Maple Leafs were third in the NHL in goals scored at 5-on-5 (159).
Power Play– The Maple Leafs have the third fewest power play opportunities (195) among NHL teams that have scored at least 40 power play goals (45).
Penalty Kill– Toronto was shorthanded 193 times this season, which was the eighth-fewest times shorthanded in the NHL.
Scoring First– Toronto had a .774 win percentage when scoring first, which tied for the third highest in the NHL.

MAPLE LEAFS – BLUE JACKETS FINAL 2019-20 TEAM STATS

 TORONTOCOLUMBUS
GOALS FOR (Rank):237 (2nd)180 (t-28th)
GOALS AGAINST (Rank):     222 (25th)183 (t-3rd)
POWER PLAY [%] (Rank):45/195 [23.8%] (6th)31/189 [16.4%] (27th)
PENALTY KILL [%] (Rank):150/193 [77.7%] (21st)138/169 [81.7%] (12th)
SHOTS (Rank):2302 (4th)2272 (6th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPTS FOR (Rank):3466 (3rd)3133 (14th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT % (Rank):52.0% (6th)49.2% (19th)
FACEOFF % (Rank):52.5% (3rd)48.5% (26th)

MAPLE LEAFS 2019-20 LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADER
GOALS47 (Matthews)
ASSISTS51 (Marner)
POINTS80 (Matthews)
POWER PLAY POINTS25 (Matthews)
SHORTHANDED POINTS2 (Engvall, Kapanen)
PIMs43 (Holl)
SHOTS290 (Matthews)
FACEOFF WIN%55.3% (Tavares)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %54.6% (Nylander)
BLOCKED SHOTS110 (Muzzin)
TAKEAWAYS78 (Matthews)
HITS109 (Muzzin)
TOI PER GAME24:12 (Rielly)
PP TOI PER GAME3:13 (Marner)
SH TOI PER GAME2:50 (Ceci)

MAPLE LEAFS NOTABLES

Frederik Andersen– Since joining the Maple Leafs in 2016-17, Andersen is 8-11 in 20 Stanley Cup Playoffs appearances. Only nine goaltenders have recorded more postseason wins in a Toronto uniform.- Fourth among NHL goaltenders in wins (29).- Fourth in the NHL in saves (1,434).- Is 6-2-3 in 11 career games against Columbus with a .918 save percentage and a 2.79 goals-against average.
Tyson Barrie– Has appeared in 21 career playoff games and recorded 14 points (one goal, 13 assists).- Had eight multi-assist games, which was tied for the fourth-most among NHL defencemen.- Finished 2019-20 tied for third among NHL defencemen in multi-point games (12).
– Averaged 14.26 shot attempts per game at 5-on-5, which was the sixth-highest average among NHL defencemen who played in at least 50 games.- Ranked 19th among NHL defencemen in 5-on-5 time on ice per game (18:12).
Jack Campbell– Could make his Stanley Cup playoff debut this postseason.- Had a 3-2-1 record with a .915 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average after being acquired by the Maple Leafs.- Has made two career appearances against the Blue Jackets and is 1-0-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
Kyle Clifford– Has appeared in 55 career playoff games with the Los Angeles Kings and is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion (2012, 2014).- Finished 10th among NHL left wingers who have appeared in 50 games in 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage (53.6%).
– Averagesd14.85 shot attempts per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5, which ranked 18th among left wingers.- Averaged 10.33 hits per 60 minutes of ice time, which ranked 32nd among NHL skaters.
Pierre Engvall– Could make his Stanley Cup playoff debut this postseason.- Was fifth among NHL rookie forwards who appeared in 40 games in 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage (52.0%). – Had an on-ice goals-for percentage of 52.6 percent at 5-on-5, which was the seventh highest among NHL rookie forwards who have appeared in 40 games.- Ranked third among rookie forwards who skated in 40 games in 5-on-5 shot attempts per 60 minutes (14.08).
Justin Holl– Could make his Stanley Cup playoff debut this postseason.- Started the eighth-lowest percentage of 5-on-5 shifts (42.3%) in the offensive zone among right-handed defencemen.- Ranked second in 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage (51.8%) among NHL defencemen who have started less than 45 percent of their 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone (42.3%).- Had the highest unblocked shot attempt percentage at 5-on-5 (52.6%) among NHL defencemen to have started fewer than 45 percent (42.0%) of their shifts in the offensive zone.
Zach Hyman– Has appeared in 20 career playoff games and recorded nine points (3-6-9).- Tied his career-high for goals in a season (21).- Ranked fifth among Maple Leafs skaters in points per game (0.73).- Finished the 2019-20 season tied for third among Toronto forwards in even-strength time on ice per game (16:08).- Ranked third among Toronto forwards in shorthanded time on ice per game (1:52).
Kasperi Kapanen– Has appeared in 20 career playoff games and recorded five points (4-1-5).- Drew 20 penalties this season and took eight, which gave him the highest net penalties among Toronto skaters (+12) and ranked tied for 14th among NHL forwards.- Fourth among Maple Leafs and 19th among NHL right wingers who appeared in 50 games in assists per 60 minutes of ice time (1.19) at 5-on-5.
Alex Kerfoot– Has appeared in 18 career playoff games with the Colorado Avalanche and recorded five points (2-3-5)- Ranked second among Toronto skaters who appeared in 50 games in assists per 60 minutes of ice time (1.22) at 5-on-5.- Ranked eighth among Maple Leafs in even-strength points (8-17-25).- Was tied for second among Maple Leafs in primary assists at 5-on-5 (11).
Mitch Marner– Has appeared in 20 career playoff games and recorded 17 career points (5-12-17).- Leads Maple Leafs players with 17 postseason points since 2017 (5-12-17 in 20 GP), per NHL Stats.- Was tied for ninth among NHL skaters in assists (51).- Had 13 multi-assist games, which was tied for the sixth-most among NHL skaters.- Averaged 1.12 points per game, which was the 17th-highest average in the NHL.- Averaged 1.69 assists per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5, which ranked 14th among NHLers who have appeared in at least 50 games.- Was tied for ninth in the NHL with 32 primary assists.
Auston Matthews– Per NHL Stats, Matthews’ 10 career playoff goals (20 GP) is the third-most among Maple Leafs before age 23. He trails Ted Kennedy (20 G in 38 GP) and Wendel Clark (11 G in 23 GP).
– Ranked third among NHL skaters in goals (47).- Finished tied for first in the NHL with 35 even-strength goals.- Led the NHL in goals scored at 5-on-5 (30).- Was tied for first in the NHL in wrist shot goals (28).- Finished tied for second in the NHL in multi-goal games (10).- Ranked seventh in the NHL in multi-point games (25).- Was ninth among NHL skaters in points (47-33-80).- Ranked fourth in the NHL with 290 shots on goal.
William Nylander– Has recorded three goals and eight assists in 20 career playoff games.- Established a new career-high for goals (31), which was tied for 15th in the NHL in goals scored.- Led the Maple Leafs and was tied for fifth among NHLers in game-winning goals (7).- Was tied for 14th in the NHL in goals scored at 5-on-5 (19).- Ranked sixth among NHL forwards who averaged 14:00 per game (14:29) in 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage (54.6%).
Jason Spezza– Leads the Maple Leafs in career playoff games (80), goals (25), assists (45) and points (70).- Averaged 1.98 points per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5 this season, which was the fourth-highest average among Toronto skaters who appeared in at least 50 games.- Averaged 0.77 goals per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5 this season, which ranked fifth among Maple Leafs who appeared in at least 50 games.- Averaged 1.21 assists per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5, which was tied for the third-highest average among Toronto skaters.
John Tavares– Has skated in 31 career playoff games and recorded 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists).- Finished tied for 20th among NHL skaters in multi-point games (18).- Ranked 10th among NHL centres in 5-on-5 ice time per game (15:26).- Ranked 14th in the NHL in faceoff wins (617)- Has recorded 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists) in 27 career games against Columbus, which is tied for the 16th most points against the Blue Jackets among active NHLers.
  

INJURY REPORT

Andreas Johnsson (Knee)On injured reserve.