Toronto Maple Leafs Playoff Opponent Analysis

Goalies

As is pretty common among goaltenders, they each have had their fair share of injuries during the season.

The Blue Jackets lost a key member of their team when Sergei Bobrovsky signed with the Florida Panthers.

However, the sting of the loss is softened by young superstar Elvis Merzļikins (13–9–8). Although his NHL debut isn’t much to be remembered (a 7–2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins), he picked up his confidence afterward and finished the regular season with a 13–9–8 record.

The seemingly random emergence of Merzlikins allowed the Blue Jackets to have one of the highest 5v5 save percentages in the NHL, a key reason for their mysterious rise in the standings after losing one of the top players in the entire NHL (Panarin) last off-season.

The second goaltender on the Blue Jackets roster is Joonas Korpisalo. Korpisalo who was the Blue Jackets back up when Bobrovsky played with the team.

He was expected to become their starter for the 2019–20 season but he gave up seven goals in his first two starts. After injuring his knee in late December, Korpisalo returned to the lineup as a replacement for Merzļikins who suffered a concussion. Since his return to the lineup, the two goaltenders have alternated the starting position.

As you can see, the Blue Jackets have a decent enough team, but they hve over achieved and are not really a match for the Leafs in a line by line comparison.

The Blue Jackets have one elite forward, and a very strong top four on the blue-line, if healthy.  They have gotten really good goaltending this season, but that is a position that is notoriously inconsistent, and time should see their unsustainable 5th ranked save percentage come down to earth.