The Toronto Maple Leafs pulled out of a dangerous early crash dive, bouncing back from three straight losses last week with a pair of victories on back-to-back nights against the San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets. After Sergei Bobrovsky backstopped the Leafs to a 3-1 win at Scotiabank Arena on Monday, the club dodged some early bullets in Kirill Marchenko’s return to Columbus, a 6-2 win at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.
Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz allowed a Jake Christiansen goal on his first shot and nearly allowed a go-ahead goal with 0.9 seconds left in the opening period, but time had expired with the game knotted at 1. The Leafs scored four second-period goals, chasing Blue Jackets starter Jet Greaves, and held off a Columbus club in the third, who outshot them 15-3.
Stolarz settled down after a rocky first 20 minutes, stopping 36 shots in his third win of the season. Marchenko, who was showered with booes throughout the night, scored the Leafs opening goal, and William Nylander, Auston Matthews, Easton Cowan, and Columbus native Jack Roslovic tallied in the middle frame. After Charlie Coyle narrowed the lead to 5-2, Marshall Rifai scored his first NHL goal to end any hopes of a comeback.
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The most impressive performer on the night was Cowan, who scored short-handed and added a pair of assists, to give him 10 points (4 goals and 6 assists) in 11 games.
“I can’t say enough good things about him, honestly. He’s exceeded my expectations, and I had high expectations for him.” Leafs head coach Jim Hiller said after the game. “I’ve told you, he told me this is what he was going to do. He’s living up to his end of the bargain. Now he’s a regular penalty killer. He’s a good player, and he’s going to have a great career.”
Leafs Lose McCabe
The only potential negative in the game was the loss of defenseman Jake McCabe in the first period, after a high stick underneath the visor from Columbus forward Kent Johnson. McCabe did not return to the game for precautionary reasons, according to Hiller, but he indicated after the game that he seemed to be doing okay. The Leafs did not practice after back-to-back games, so the first indication of McCabe’s status will be at Thursday’s morning skate before their match against the NY Rangers.
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