Leafs fall to Columbus, now face Capitals in playoffs

"Talk about guys cutting it fine", Cherry said of the Leafs earning a playoff berth in their penultimate game of the regular season. Andersen's play hasn't been too strong as of late, which may lead to a goaltending problem for Babcock if things go south quickly against the high-powered Capitals.

Here's a complete first round schedule, courtesy of National Hockey League on NBC.

Forward Connor Brown scored a heart-stopping goal in the final minutes against the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night, securing a 5-3 victory for the team - and a coveted playoff spot. No points, and it's the Stanley Cup favorite Capitals in round one. Two more rookies - Mitch Marner and William Nylander - join Matthews in the 60-point club with 61 each while veterans Nazem Kadri (61) and James van Riemsdyk (60) also have contributed. TSN noted during the Sunday's telecast that the Senators' combined power play- and penalty-killing success rates added up to 96.9 per cent, which was second worst of any team in the playoffs.

Babcock, perhaps not surprisingly, plans to spend lots of time before Thursday's opener in D.C. detailing for his group what exactly is different about playoff hockey.

The Blue Jackets are guaranteed to face the Penguins as the 3 seed.

"I think the city's probably buzzing", said Connor Brown, the game's hero after scoring the victor - his 20th of the season - with less than three minutes to play. "You still need to do something with it, go out there and perform, but you could see early on the potential we had as a team".

But Toronto blew a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2 to Columbus. The Leafs, however, never did have the consistent energy that Babcock thought he would see, and Columbus reeled off three goals by the end of the second, getting the victor from Cam Atkinson while shorthanded. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 30 shots for the Jackets, set for a first-round series with Pittsburgh.

Toronto needed a point to avoid the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs and draw the Ottawa Senators instead. There are going to all kinds of breakdowns, here at The Athletic and elsewhere, in the coming days, of how Toronto matches up against whoever they'll face, Washington or Ottawa.

Whether goaltender Frederik Andersen will come along as a date with his teammates in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs is not yet known.

This is what the Maple Leafs are dealing with: a team of destiny. That's when it's a completely different program. "We've got two years left before that happens". He then danced around Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz and beat Fleury for his 27th goal.

Babcock said Andersen suffered no concussion symptoms from the hit and would be ready for the start of the post-season.

The Leafs claimed McElhinney off waivers from Columbus on January 10.

The Leafs got on the board early in the middle frame, van Riemsdyk scoring the first of his two goals on the night.

It was the Red Wings' regular season finale last season, and Sheahan's goal (his 14th of the season) came in a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

The Blue Jackets received goals from Seth Jones and Boone Jenner but remained winless in six games, getting outscored 21-11 in that stretch. Calvert got the first with a weak backhand between McElhinney's pads, Anderson followed up off the rush and Atkinson got the go-ahead marker short-handed. It was in the final minutes of the frame that rookie defenceman Nikita Zaitsev was plastered into the end-boards by Jackets captain Nick Foligno. Well, actually, he did return briefly, but left again. Carey Price is arguably the best goalie in the world and Henrik Lundqvist always amazes in the playoffs. Their possession numbers were superb against the Blue Jackets as well, registering almost 60 per cent and above each.

This realization must have hit the Maple Leafs when they looked at the out-of-town scoreboard at Air Canada Centre, and clearly it shook them.