5 matchups we’re looking forward to most in the NHL’s 24-team playoff

NHL playoffs: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

There is really no question that this will be the matchup to watch in the play in round. The offensive juggernaut that hasn’t lived up to expectations in the Toronto Maple Leafs, against the defensive stalwart that’s out-performed any preseason predictions in the Columbus Blue Jackets. Both teams finished with exactly a .579 points percentage, despite having entirely different seasons.

These two polar opposites will face off for an opportunity to advance and play the top seed in Eastern Conference, currently the Boston Bruins. Both sides split the regular season series 1-1.

This season was supposed to be the year that that the Maple Leafs take a major step forward towards Stanley Cup contention after three consecutive first round exits, but a slow start saw them fire Mike Babcock and hire Sheldon Keefe and embark on an absolute roller coaster of a season. Nothing sums it up better than a five day stretch in February of shutting out the Penguins, losing in humiliating fashion to an emergency backup goalie, then following that up with a win over the Lightning.

Toronto’s offense is their obvious strength with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander. Combined with solid depth and the sixth best power play, the Leafs scored the second most goals in the league. It’s also not a secret the Maple Leafs defense is not good enough. While they’ve made made several moves to try to improve their back end, it just hasn’t been enough. They gave up the seventh most goals in the league, and the second most of any team involved in the expanded playoff. It didn’t help that Frederick Andersen struggled, and there was no solid backup goalie until February. But several months of rest and a new backup goalie in Jack Campbell, maybe that’ll all change.

All of the pressure in this series rests on Toronto’s shoulders. They have no first round pick, no first round playoff wins, and an increasingly impatient fanbase. A loss in the play-in round would be more than enough reason for some staggering offseason changes.

Columbus came into this season with very few expectations after the departures of Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky, and then suffered more injuries than any other team in the NHL. For any other team it would’ve been a death sentence, but not for Columbus. They made the adjustments necessary to survive, and became one of the best defensive teams in the league to fight their way into the playoff race.

The Blue Jackets gave up the second least goals in the NHL, and were a top three team in the league in suppressing shots. With the departure of Bobrovsky, the goaltending was expected to plummet, but it’s never been stronger. Both Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins were spectacular, and were arguably the best duo in the league.

But everything was great for the Blue Jackets, they wouldn’t be ninth best team in the Conference. Columbus’s offense was really, really, bad during the regular season. They were tied for the fourth least goals scored, and generated the fourth least amount of quality scoring chances. It doesn’t help that they also almost never had their ideal lineup, but they’ll be getting just about everybody back in time for this series.

It’s the classic high powered offense vs. a shut down defense. Expectations vs. no expectations. Watching these two polar opposites go head to head should be a treat, especially with both sides finally getting healthy so they can ice their ideal rosters. Can Toronto finally use their firepower to live up their potential, or can Blue Jackets shut them down to take their underdog story into the playoffs?

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