Morning-after-recap: This game was okay but not great

We’ve thought about this loss, we’ve gotten to sleep on it, and you know what? It wasn’t the worst. The Leafs have won games that felt worse than this one, so we’ll just go ahead and ignore that they’ve lost four of their last five!

Here’s all of the scoring from last night, just in case you happened to miss this Wednesday night tilt.

1-0 Blue Jackets (Sedlak alone in front)

This goal was the result of a strong forecheck from Columbus’ fourth line. Mark Hannikainen does a nice job along the boards, and Matt Calvert digs it out to find Lukas Sedlak alone in the slot. Like, he’s literally all alone and he spins, fires, scores. Ah, well.

2-0 Blue Jackets (Seth Jones is good at hockey)

Jones scores literally RIGHT off a successful kill for the Blue Jackets. This one’s a terrific individual effort, as he forces a turnover and takes the puck all the way down the ice before the snipe, score, and celly.

Now, this one would have been one where you might have liked to see a save from McElhinney, but you win some, you lose some.

2-1 Blue Jackets (Gardiner from Nylander — otherwise known as the “You good, Dylan?”)

William Nylander is super wonderful at hockey. He makes this goal happen — he gets the puck in deep, then blocks a clear attempt on the wall before putting a perfect pass right on Jake Gardiner’s tape.

3-1 Blue Jackets (PLD PPG)

Sometimes, a goal against feels inevitable. That was certainly the case here, as the Blue Jackets really had the Leafs scrambling on the PK. Now, the Leafs are missing Nikita Zaitsev, who normally eats up a ton of minutes on the kill, but Columbus had the Leafs completely on their heels.

McElhinney makes a few saves, but Pierre-Luc Dubois is planted in front of the net and capitalizes on a Cam Atkinson pass from behind the net. McElhinney gets caught leaning the wrong way, but the Leafs failed to clear the puck moments earlier and failed to clear Dubois in the crease, so it’s not all on him.

4-1 (Wennberg snipe)

RIP, Connor Carrick. :///

Boone Jenner does a really nice job setting up this goal, bodying Carrick off the puck and then poking it forward to create a Columbus 2-on-1. Wennberg’s nice finish gives the Blue Jackets a three-goal lead.

4-2 (HELL YEAH MITCHY!!!)

Mitchell was flying during the third, and this goal was an outstanding individual effort. With him getting his groove back and Nylander looking sharp, opponents better watch out in the second half.

The Leafs will have a few days off before taking on the New York Rangers in their final game before the Christmas break. We’ll see you then!

By the way… DID YOU HEAR WE’RE HAVING A PARTY?