The Maple Leafs have a chance to prove themselves in a deciding playoff game yet again, but face a full Blue Jackets lineup and a highly motivated goalie.
Columbus coach John Tortorella, deciding not to hide his intentions until Sunday’s night’s fifth match of the qualifying series, said top-two defenceman Zach Werenski and third-pairing member Ryan Murray would be back from injuries and that Joonas Korpisalo would be in net. Werenski missed the last minutes of Game 4 when the Leafs stormed back and together with Seth Jones, has been smothering the Leafs with coverage, big hits and offensive spurts.
And when Tortorella switched from Korpisalo to Elvis Merzlikins in Game 3, it resulted in 50-plus saves over two games. The Jackets are confident of similar results with this switch.
Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe, at his early afternoon briefing, spoke of his team’s positive signs in readying to take the next developmental step and win the club’s first series since 2004. Going back to 2017, the Leafs have dropped two Game 7s to Boston and fell in six to Washington.
Not only did Toronto match Columbus with a four-goal overtime comeback in Game 4, but it has also benefitted from many significant individual plays in the two games without injured defenceman Jake Muzzin. if the Leafs can get past Columbus, they’d play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round next week, perhaps with Muzzin in the mix after he got out his room for the first time since a Game 2 upper-body injury and had a light Sunday skate.
The young and highly paid core of the Leafs, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, were prominent in the closing minutes and overtime of Game 4, with defenceman Travis Dermott making a key extra period shot block.
“We’ve seen a lot of little moments inside of every game that have shown the urgency that’s required this time of year,” said Keefe. “And we’ve had more than enough guys who’ve been in these types situations before (veterans John Tavares, Jason Spezza, Kyle Clifford). The lineup has changed a lot over the years, but there’s enough guys who’ve been through this together who are willing to leave it all out there to take the next step.”
Keefe not only praised Matthews’ offensive efforts with six points to date, but noted “his commitment defensively has really been off the charts. It’s how competitive he’s been coming back to our end, blocking shots. He’s doing a lot of little things that don’t necessarily show up on the scoreboard.
“He‘s not doing it for recognition, he’s just doing it because it’s required to win.”
Tortorella, whose team upset Tampa Bay in last season’s first round, said his squad has no lingering emotional scars from Friday.
“Oh, we’re fine, we’re fine. We feel we have the momentum no matter what happened there. Momentum’s a funny thing, if you want to give it back to them you lose it. If you don’t want to give it to them, you keep it on your side.
“We’re not changing (styles). We thought we played a good game. We pissed it away on a couple of bad plays and just within a couple of minutes, but I thought we played a good game.”
Frederik Andersen, who has been in goal for the past three eliminations of the Leafs, gets another chance Sunday night, too.
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