Wide World of Women

The faith in the Toronto Maple Leafs is vastly decreasing. The last two years have seen them sent home in a Game 7 against the Boston Bruins; this offseason, they dealt longtime Leaf Nazem Kadri in exchange for Alex Kerfoot and Tyson Barrie, both of whom had trouble really picking up points. Despite the Leafs' problems, they ended up finishing a distant third in the Atlantic, though they never had a chance to move past Boston and Tampa Bay. The Columbus Blue Jackets are now a perennial playoff team--yes, this is the Qualifying Round, but it's the playoffs. Last year, Columbus got off the playoff series schnide with their unbelievable upset sweep of the 62-win Lightning, and even won a pair of Division Final games before being ousted by the Bruins. If they were playing anyone else, I'd say Columbus would advance. But I can't see them getting past the Leafs, I think they have just a bit more than Columbus.

Prediction: Leafs in 5

#1

Blue Jackets 2, Maple Leafs 0

Cam Atkinson (G & A) breaks the scoreless tie early in the third; Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 28 Toronto shots for the Game One shutout.

Maple Leafs 3, Blue Jackets 0

Frederik Andersen stops all 20 Columbus shots to lead Toronto to victory in Game Two.

Blue Jackets 4, Maple Leafs 3 (OT)

A change in net mid-game and Pierre-Luc Dubois' hat trick (including the OT winner at 18:24) fueled Columbus' comeback win in Game Three.

Maple Leafs 4, Blue Jackets 3 (OT)

What's good for the goose is good for the gander; Leafs come back from down 3-0 to force OT, then Auston Matthews scores 13:10 into the extra period to force Game Five.

Blue Jackets 3, Maple Leafs 0

Joonas Korpisalo blanks Leafs for the second time in this series; setting up a rematch against the Lightning.