Blue Jackets at Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to make it a little easier on themselves after a pair of shootout victories when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night. Toronto, which is 2-1-0 on a six-game homestand, defeated San Jose on Thursday and rallied from two goals down two days later to knock off Vancouver 3-2 as it stabilized after losing three straight contests.
“Whenever you get down and come back, it builds a lot of confidence within the group,” Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak told reporters after scoring the tying goal and the deciding tally in the shootout Saturday. “It’s not an easy thing to do, to come back in this league, so it’s nice to be able to do that and build our confidence.” Toronto will try to avenge a 4-2 loss at Columbus on Dec. 20 and break a string in which the Blue Jackets have won five of six in the series. Columbus won for only the second time in six games (2-3-1) as they outlasted Florida 3-2 in an eight-round shootout Sunday after rookie center Pierre-Luc Dubois notched a goal and an assist. The Blue Jackets managed to score only four times in the last four contests, but notched a pair of power-play goals in a game for the second time this season Sunday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, TVA, FS Ohio (Columbus), TSN4 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (24-16-3): Dubois (nine goals, 12 assists) became the fifth player to reach the 20-point plateau for Columbus and left wing Artemi Panarin snapped a three-game drought with his team-leading 35th point Sunday. Defenseman Seth Jones had a pair of assists in the shootout win to tie forward Oliver Bjorkstrand for second on the team with 26 points and boasts four goals while setting up seven others in his past 12 contests. Boone Jenner saw his point drought extend to four games despite seven shots on net and fellow forward Josh Anderson had the shootout winner Sunday, but is pointless in the same span.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (25-16-2): Center Auston Matthews has scored four times in the last four games and owns six in seven since coming back from an upper-body injury while leading the team in goals (19) and points (33) overall. Toronto defenseman Travis Dermott, a second-round pick in 2015, made his NHL debut Saturday and finished with an assist, one shot and two hits in 12:03 of ice time. “I thought he was confident, moved the puck, skated good, looks like he has good hockey sense,” coach Mike Babcock told reporters of the 21-year-old. “It looked like the (overall) situation didn’t intimidate him at all.”
OVERTIME
1. Columbus G Sergei Bobrovsky reached 20 wins in a season for the sixth time after making 42 saves for his 201st career victory Sunday.
2. The Maple Leafs are 11-2-0 when Bozak (eight goals, 13 assists) records a point in a game this season.
3. Columbus' Zach Werenski leads NHL defensemen with 11 goals and Toronto D Morgan Rielly is in the top five among blueliners with 26 assists.