Maple Leafs at Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets already have locked up a playoff berth and are embroiled in a three-team battle with Washington and Pittsburgh for the Metropolitan Division title and No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a race of their own to reach the postseason as they prepare to visit Columbus on Wednesday night.
The Blue Jackets clinched a playoff berth for the third time in franchise history with Sunday's 4-1 victory at New Jersey, which extended their winning streak to four games and pushed their point total 100. "We're going to just keep pushing and keep looking up," forward Brandon Dubinsky said of Columbus, which trails the Capitals by two points and the Penguins by one. "The sky's the limit. We'll see how far we can get." Toronto has reached the postseason only once since the 2004-05 season was canceled by the NHL lockout, but it holds down the second wild card and is one point behind third-place Boston in the Atlantic Division with two games in hand. The Maple Leafs are 5-1-1 in their last seven but have dropped three in a row to the Blue Jackets, including a 5-2 loss at Columbus on Feb. 15.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TVAS, Sportsnet (Toronto), FSN Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (33-23-15): Netminder Frederik Andersen was yanked after one period in a loss at Florida on March 14 -- the only time in his last nine appearances that he has surrendered more than two goals. Andersen shook off that performance and has turned aside 103 of 107 shots over the past three games (2-0-1) while sporting a .940 save percentage in his last 11 starts. Toronto center Nazem Kadri, who scored twice versus Columbus last month, is one shy of his first 30-goal season.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (47-18-6): Alexander Wennberg sat out Sunday's game for precautionary reasons, opening a spot in the lineup for Lukas Sedlak, who converted on a penalty shot in his first action since Feb. 17 and earned another start Wednesday. Boone Jenner, playing on a retooled line with Dubinsky and Josh Anderson over the weekend, scored twice against the Devils, his first multi-goal game of the season. A 30-goal scorer last season, Jenner also tallied versus Toronto last month.
OVERTIME
1. Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky, a winner of seven straight starts, is 8-3-0 with two shutouts against the Maple Leafs.
2. Toronto set a franchise record with 103 goals from rookies, breaking the previous record set in 1943-44.
3. Columbus signed Sedlak, RW Markus Hannikainen and D Scott Harrington to two-year contracts on Tuesday.