TORONTO — Taught, tight and tense.
Just the way the Columbus Blue Jackets like it.
The visitors looked right at home in grabbing a 1-0 qualifying series lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 2-0 victory at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday night. Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 28 shots the Leafs managed to get through his stout defensive corps and Cam Atkinson made sure it stood up with the only goal Columbus needed.
As much as everything feels different in a Stanley Cup Playoff tournament held after a 140-day pause, some things don’t change: The Blue Jackets won a NHL-best 20 one-goal games before coronavirus halted the season.
Even with no fans in the building, there was a playoff intensity.
Back and forth they went.
A glorious scoring chance for 18-year-old Nick Robertson on the first shift of his NHL career, a breakaway for Pierre-Luc Dubois, a shot pinging off the crossbar from Auston Matthews, a great look from Zach Werenski striking iron as well.
You could clearly hear the sound of sticks banging on the boards, for example, and see the entire Columbus bench standing to salute Korpisalo after he gloved a dangerous Matthews look from the slot.
That briefly opened things up in the late stages of the second period, with Seth Jones ringing a shot off the crossbar before Frederik Andersen pushed off deftly with his right leg to get a left pad in front of what looked like a sure Oliver Bjorkstrand goal.
Atkinson finally broke through at 1:05 of the third period with a perfectly placed shot that had Andersen shaking his head in disbelief. He fired it off the rush and squeezed it between the right pad and blocker of the Leafs goaltender.
The Blue Jackets closed things off from there. Toronto couldn’t find its way through a well-coached opponent that locked off the neutral zone and protected the house.
Alexander Wennberg sealed it with an empty-netter.
Game 2 goes Tuesday afternoon.
