It was a fast-paced match between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs. Here are three takeaways from Game 1 of the series.
The Columbus Blue Jackets took Game 1 of the series against the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 2-0 shut-out. It was a fast-paced game in which every puck battle was crucial and there was no time for a breath. The Blue Jackets were able to stifle the Maple Leafs and Joonas Korpisalo had an impressive first postseason start.
Here are three takeaways from the first game of the series.
1. Goalies looked sharp
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A lot has been made about the potential of rust in the beginning of these play-in series. Even though each team got to play an exhibition game, it was going to be tough for all players -especially goaltenders – to get back into high-intensity action. However, both Joonas Korpisalo and Frederik Andersen were up to the challenge and had solid games.
Korpisalo was in his first-ever NHL playoff game and managed to turn away all 28 shots thrown his way, including a point-blank snipe from Auston Matthews. Not too shabby. Andersen also made some incredible saves, allowing just one goal on 35 shots. If the Leafs want to point to someone to blame for the loss, it definitely wasn’t their goaltender.
2. Defense was stifling
Both teams did an incredible job defensively, keeping pucks to the outside and blocking as many shots as possible. The Blue Jackets blocked 18 shots while the Leafs stopped 14. The two teams combined for 63 shots but just 17 of them came from the middle of the ice.
Every puck was hustled and fought for, with the smallest mistake leading to a turnover. In fact, the only goal (that wasn’t an empty netter) came from a rare chance in the game where Cam Atkinson was able to find open ice during a Leafs’ line change.
For the Blue Jackets, this type of game is their bread and butter and if they want to win the series, this is how they’re going to do it. As for the Maple Leafs, they need to be able to open up more space to give their offence room to work with.
3. Impressive playoff debuts
Nick Robertson of the Toronto Maple Leafs is just 18 years old and his NHL debut was a playoff game against the Blue Jackets. While it was his first game in the big league, you could not tell by the way he was playing. He was fast, dialed in, and a spark plug for the team’s third line.
Liam Foudy and Eric Robinson both made their playoff debuts with the Blue Jackets and were great. These two players injected a lot of speed into the lineup and did exactly what John Tortorella wanted.
Going into this series, Tortorella made it clear that he wanted his team to play fast and by utilizing players like Foudy, Robinson, and Gustav Nyquist, his team was able to keep up with the speed of the Maple Leafs. The two youngsters were a handful for the Leafs’ defencemen and will be very important pieces going forward in this series.
This game could have gone either way and was a very hard-fought match. It seems like bad bounces and little mistakes will be the difference-maker in this series and the team that’s able to capitalize on these chances will be moving on.