First Period

Columbus came out hard right from the start, and the Leafs struggled fairly often to get out of the zone. When they got out, though, they got good offensive chances, one after the other.

And then finally there was a goal:

Columbus with the only power play:

Matt Knies, who was a beast in this period, came so close:

After one it was 1-0 Leafs.

Gotta say it seemed like the Leafs had more action than this:

Second Period

The second period saw the Leafs generate offence about the same as they did in the first with similar problems solving Elvis Merzlikins. The difference was Columbus cooled right down and the Leafs easily kept them from getting quality shots off.

It's been a game with a lot of falling, but this was a good recovery:

Prior to the fight that blew up, these two committed several penalties and the refs ignored them.

After two it was 2-0 Leafs.

Nothing coming from the Blue Jackets here that is very dangerous.

So, the line on Nick Robertson is "All he does is score goals, why isn't he in the lineup?" The answer is in the question. But he's been in the lineup more than Pontus Holmberg or David Kämpf as well as several others.

The issue here is that because Nick Robertson doesn't do anything but score goals, he has to do that nothing without causing harm in order to stay in the lineup. In other words, he has to be a net benefit on the bottom six. That's a tough job for a guy with no ability to generate offence in general. He scores or nothing happens. Or if you like that in points-ese, he has fewer assists than David Kämpf in more games played.

This is how hard Robertson tries to make that equation work out for him:

Third Period

William Nylander opened the third period with a goal right after Morgan Rielly had a great chance.

And three minutes later he did it again. Little more of an individual effort this time.

Simon Benoit almost had a fight with Mathieu Olivier, but it was really just talking and hugging. Lucky for Benoit.

Elvis Merzlikins was penalized for being a goalie.

The Leafs produced a very, very good power play, but Merzlikins wasn't letting anything in.

Auston Matthews was bored with power plays so he scored on a delayed penalty call.

Late in the third period, you can see the Leafs just ran away with this game.

Final score was 5-0 Leafs. Never in doubt. (Matt Knies, though, what a game.)

Next games are on the road Tuesday and Wednesday against Florida and Tampa.

Game Coverage