Flipping the script on the Toronto Maple Leafs was the Blue Jackets ' objective heading into the third period down by two goals Saturday night at Nationwide Arena.
Unlike the Maple Leafs, who overcame a 5-0 deficit in the third to force overtime against Columbus on Dec. 14 in Toronto, the Jackets couldn't pull off a comeback in the final 20 minutes of a 4-1 loss that was their fourth in a row on home ice.
Auston Matthews , Mitch Marner and William Nylander led the Maple Leafs (17-8-6) to victory by combining to score three of Toronto's goals, including two by Matthews and one by Nylander. John Tavares also scored a goal for the Maple Leafs, who started Martin Jones (27 saves) in net. Justin Danforth scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets (11-18-6), who started goalie Daniil Tarasov (26 saves).
"I think it was just a game of capitalization," Danforth said. "They capitalized more on their chances than we did."
Here are three takeaways:
The Blue Jackets had an injury scare near the end of the first period after Sean Kuraly absorbed a hit behind Toronto's net . Kuraly sustained an abdominal injury when a stick struck him in the chest during the collision, which forced him to leave the ice hunched over while grabbing his chest.
He eventually collapsed behind the Columbus bench before being assisted to the locker room. The first period ended with 18.8 seconds left and that time was added to the start of the second. More importantly, Kuraly was evaluated on site and transported to nearby Grant Medical Center for further evaluation for an injury the team doesn't believe is serious.
"I was told that everything should be fine, but they're checking to make sure everything is OK," Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. "It was a scary moment. You know what happened, the hit and then he came back to the bench, (but) then what happened in the hallway, I don't know. I just saw the trainers and the medical staff, and it was urgent. It's not fun. You don't want to see that."
After Kuraly collapsed, his teammates on the bench began feverishly trying to flag down officials to stop play and a white towel was thrown onto the ice. Erik Gudbranson was on the ice with Kuraly when the injury occurred and his pulse shot up after spotting the bench's efforts to stop the game and get a paramedic over to Kuraly as fast as possible.
"You get freaked out real quick," Gudbranson said. "That's it. You just hope it's not bad. That's the second time I've been a part of that, something like that, so I'm really, really happy that he's OK and they got word to us that he's fine. I'm excited to go check up on him myself."
Gudbranson's previous experience with a health scare in a game was with the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 11 at Honda Center in Anaheim. St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester collapsed on the bench in the first period and had a 'cardiac episode' that required the use of a defibrillator. That game was stopped at that point and finished on a later date. Kuraly's injury isn't thought to be serious, which was a big relief to the Blue Jackets during the first intermission.
"You have no idea what's going on, but when somebody waves that towel, you hope they get to him quick," Gudbranson said. "The first little bit (during intermission) was intense, but once we got that word (he was OK), you reset and you go out and play."
Danforth's goal tied it 1-1 just 22 seconds after the start of the second period, which brought Blue Jackets fans to life among the 17,806 who attended.
Less than two minutes later, Toronto's David Kampf hooked Adam Fantilli and drew a minor penalty that could've given the Blue Jackets a power play if not for something that angered the rookie center. Fantilli was called for embellishment on the play, which also put him in the box and made it 4-on-4 for two minutes.
Tavares put the Maple Leafs up 2-1 just 52 seconds later, after Fantilli had loudly protested the call against him from inside the box. Fantilli was then whistled for a holding minor about four minutes later and Matthews capped the power play with a goal that gave Toronto a 3-1 lead in the second.
Asked about the penalties following the game, Fantilli was still salty about the first one.
"I'm not diving," he said. "I got hooked and then high-sticked and went down, so … my bad, I guess. I don't know. The second one, I'm just working for the puck and the other player throws up his hand and then the ref throws up his hand, so that's why there was a little bit of frustration there. I didn't think that was his call. It's not in my control, though. The first one, I can promise you I wasn't diving. That's not the way I want to play."
It was a learning experience for the rookie center, if nothing else.
"Going through where I've played, in juniors and college, I mean you never really get the calls," Fantilli said. "There's things that refs miss. There's things the refs call that you disagree with, so I haven't really experienced any favoritism that way. I don't really know what to expect, but as a young player, you've just got to keep your head down and keep your cool."
Tarasov starting over Elvis Merzlikins would've been a bigger surprise had the Jackets' 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday ended differently.
Merzlikins' decision to rough up forward Tom Wilson and draw a penalty that led to the Capitals' OT victory on the ensuing power play was strongly rebuked by Vincent after the game, making the likelihood of someone else starting against Toronto feel like a foregone conclusion.
Vincent said the decision to start Tarasov for the third time in four games was merely part of the Jackets' planned goalie 'rotation' while carrying three goalies, but you'd be hard pressed to find anybody who fully believes that explanation.
Merzlikins allowed five goals in the Maple Leafs's record-setting comeback in Toronto, but what happened Thursday is a more plausible explanation. After missing two games to make room for Tarasov joining the goaltending mix, Merzlikins returned sharp against Washington and made 29 saves on 31 shots before his meltdown in OT.
Making him the backup the very next game, as the team's top goaltending option, didn't make a lot of logical sense otherwise.
Now, instead of logging a second straight game going into the NHL's three-day holiday break, he'll come out of it having played just once in a span of 11 days.
"He was outstanding (against the Capitals)," Vincent said. "He played amazingly well. So, we communicate with our players. We took care of what happened and we're moving forward."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 3 takeaways from Maple Leafs' victory over Blue Jackets
