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Columbus Blue Jackets Staring Down the Barrel: Red Hot Leafs

By Lansing Murphy

TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 14: Patrick Marleau #12 of the Toronto Maple Leafs goes to the net against Joonas Korpisalo #70, Pierre-Luc Dubois #18, and Seth Jones #3 of the Columbus Blue Jackets during the third period at the Air Canada Centre on February 14, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 14: Patrick Marleau #12 of the Toronto Maple Leafs goes to the net against Joonas Korpisalo #70, Pierre-Luc Dubois #18, and Seth Jones #3 of the Columbus Blue Jackets during the third period at the Air Canada Centre on February 14, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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It may be cooling down very quickly but the Columbus Blue Jackets face a red hot Leafs squad tonight in Toronto.

The marquee matchup tonight in the NHL is none other than your Columbus Blue Jackets traveling to Toronto to take on the Leafs. The two are the hottest teams in the NHL right now with a combined 11-1-2 record over their last seven games each racking up 12 points in that time frame.

Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Fredrik Andersen are playing fantastic in net and could put on quite a show tonight. Or maybe the high flying offenses led by Cam Atkinson and Mitch Marner will figure out the All-Star goalies and we could see a good old shootout instead.

Ahead of the game I sat down with James Tanner, site expert at EditorInLeaf.com to talk about the Leafs and Jackets. Tanner and the gang at EditorInLeaf do a fantastic job covering the NHL’s most talked about team so when you need a Leafs fix, head on over to read their work.

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Lansing Murphy (LM): The Leafs are on fire right now. What has been the biggest reason why the Leafs are 6-1-0 in their last seven?

James Tanner (JT): The number one reason the Leafs have won six out of their last seven games is because of goalie Frederik Andersen. The Leafs played a really solid game against Pittsburgh, and also against San Jose, but Andersen almost single-handedly beat Vegas. Andersen keeps them in games that they otherwise should probably lose.

LM: Are you worried about the Leafs being a bit worn out after a four game road trip from Boston to California, back to Toronto?

JT: I am not worried. They might lose, because there’s only two options, but they are a group of professional athletes, mostly in their twenties. I am sure they don’t get that tired from sleeping in the finest hotels or first class air travel.

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LM: What scares you most about this Columbus Blue Jackets team?

JT: The scariest thing about the Blue Jackets is that they still employ John Tortorella. Also, Artemi Panarin is good too. We are huge fans of his.

LM: How do you see tonight’s game playing out?

JT: The Leafs are back home after a road trip, which usually doesn’t bode well (at least, that is the narrative; I’ve never bothered to research whether it is actually true) so that could be a factor in a high scoring game. But I am terrible at predictions and the main thing I am looking forward to is watching Seth Jones and Zach Werenski.

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Well thanks James and enjoy the game tonight, just don’t get to used to watching Jones and Werenski. We know you need another defenseman but those are two guys you just can’t have!

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