No matter what happened today, it wouldn’t have been as beautiful as yesterday, so we were just set up for disappointment from the start. Like, I’m a glass-half-full person, but facts are facts.

And as it happened, it was a pretty unremarkable game overall. Both Leafs goals were very nice, but there were only two of those and four Blue Jackets ones, so yeah. Yesterday was definitely more fun.

(via corsica.hockey)

So here’s the deal. Sometimes, you match up okay with a team, and they get saves and you don’t. Today was one of those days. The Leafs really weren’t all that bad, and it was a pretty even match-up in terms of shot-share, as you can see by the #Corsis above. The difference was that the Blue Jackets buried, the Leafs didn’t, and yeah, today their back-up was better than our back-up.

(But like… Calvin Pickard… and Garret Sparks… are right there, ripe for the taking…)

I’d like to extend a stick tap to fellow TLN staffer Hayley, who helpfully let me know what was going on this period via text while I was driving. Here is a transcript of our texts:

HAYLEY: 5 minutes in update: nylander still at center ❤️
HAYLEY: 10 minute update: mcelhinney had a big save on anderson, marner beat icing, that’s all that has happened
HAYLEY: “that is ‘sick’, as the kids used to say” …………wait do people not say that anymore or
HAYLEY: aw f***
HAYLEY: Sedlak wide open in front smh
MEGAN: Aw it seemed to be going well
HAYLEY: pretty well ?
HAYLEY: that was about 2 seconds away from a shorty ?
HAYLEY: not sure what jake is doin

This was not really the best period for the Leafs. They are, in fairness, in the second game of a back-to-back, and they had to travel yesterday, too. Looked like their legs weren’t really there, and it would have been nice to get a save on the Seth Jones almost-shorty, too.

HAYLEY: well d*mn son lol
MEGAN: (i’m watching now)
HAYLEY: oh good lol “d*mn son lol” is not the most informative probably
HAYLEY: do you think dylan [fremlin] is still alive

Checking in with Dylan…

That was pretty much the sole good thing to happen this period, although I have to say that Nylander has had a jump in his step tonight. Absolutely love seeing that.

Although it looked like the Leafs were back in it after cutting the deficit in half, the Blue Jackets extended their lead on the power play later in the period. It was actually just a really effective power play, and McElhinney made some good saves before eventually conceding the goal, which was Pierre-Luc Dubois’ 7th of the season.

The Leafs get some good chances in the first half of the third, but Korpisalo makes some key saves. (See, McElhinney? It’s nice to bail out your team sometimes.)

Then Wennberg puts the biscuit in the basket (after an, um, unfortunate decision by Connor Carrick) to make it 4-1 for the Blue Jackets. Womp womp.

There’s also a bit of a scare with Kapanen — he gets caught awkwardly between two Blue Jackets, and Calvert clips him in the head.

Kapanen didn’t ever leave the bench, and was back on the ice shortly… But we have to ask — is that necessarily a good thing? Personally I’ll always err on the side of caution. He gets whacked in the head, he’s clearly a little bit shaken. Just go check it out.

The bright spot of the third, though? Mitchell Marner in general, who really turned on the jets and was practically singlehandedly trying to will the Leafs to a win. The Leafs did not win, but Marner gave us a highlight-reel goal.

So, at least there’s that.

When will Auston return from war? :/ He’s been skating the past few days, but hasn’t participated in team practice yet. It’s not inconceivable that we won’t see him back in action until after Christmas, which frankly wouldn’t be the worst. No use in rushing him back.

Paul Romanuk keeps saying that William Nylander misses Auston Matthews during his absence??? Does Paul Romanuk know that Nylander hasn’t been on Matthews’ line in quite some time?

The Blue Jackets didn’t have Werenski, but Seth Jones, who is good on a normal night, really ramped it up. A really, really good game from him; he was super noticeable.

Same, Dylan:

This, in regards to the Wennberg goal. 🙁

Concussion spotters? Who needs ’em?? (This is, of course, in reference to Kapanen getting caught awkwardly by Calvert and looking kind of woozy on the bench.)

You gotta wonder…

And lastly: