Two lop-sided defeats to Columbus are bad enough for the Maple Leafs, but losing Matthew Knies for any length of time would be harder.
Toronto’s best left winger this season, who’d turned up his physical presence in recent games, wasn’t on the bench for Wednesday’s third period of a 5-1 loss to the Blue Jackets.
He took a hard hit and then a couple of cross-checks in the ensuing scrum, leaving before the middle period ended. The Leafs listed the injury as upper body before the game ended.
But Knies and linemates Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were already in a frustrated state as the Jackets ended the Leafs’ three-game win streak. Columbus, making an improbable run at a wild-card playoff spot, are only the second Eastern Conference team to beat the Atlantic Division leading Leafs twice, by a combined 11-3 score.
Matthews, with William Nylander added to his line, finally beat Elvis Merzlikins on Toronto’s 27th shot.
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Meanwhile, the Jackets had jumped on backup Dennis Hildeby for three goals on their first 12 shots.
Nylander also had two breakaways stopped, one by Merzlikins’ glove, the other by the post. Matthews extended his goal streak to five games and reached 20 for the ninth straight season, but Toronto was foiled on its three power-play attempts.
The eventful first period featured a fight, as well as Matthews and Merzlikins trading sticks, plus 4-on-4 action, 23 combined shots, two Leafs power plays and a Columbus short-handed goal.
The bout was a lively exchange between Ryan Reaves and Mathieu Olivier after the Leafs enforcer had bemoaned his complete lack of dance partners this season. Shortly after, Reaves had a chance alone for his first goal of the year but was foiled by Merzlikens.
The Latvian netminder, meanwhile, grabbed Matthews’ stick in a crease mash-up as he lost his own. The frustrated Matthews picked up the bigger goal-stick, not knowing it was an automatic illegal stick call.
After Toronto’s five-forward power play didn’t click on two tries, the second unit was burned for the fifth short-handed goal against. Morgan Rielly was a little too gassed to thwart an Adam Fantilli shot that managed to beat Hildeby up top to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
The Leafs rested Joseph Woll at Tuesday’s practice after his three straight wins, but coach Craig Berube decided to activate Hildeby and give Woll maximum rest for Saturday against division rival Ottawa. But the 6-foot-7 Swede was having trouble tracking pucks, with little help when his defence started flailing in front of him in the second period.
Luca Del Bel Belluz of the Jackets — like Fantilli, a local product — slid a pass under a diving Jake McCabe to wide-open ex-Leaf James van Riemsdyk. Less than two minutes later, Fantilli swatted a bouncing puck in.
Del Bel Belluz added his own and Fantilli collected his hat trick with Hildeby pulled at the 11-minute mark of the third following the Matthews goal.
One Jackets cap made it to the ice before play resumed.
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