It could have been worse.
In fact, it could have been a lot worse than it was for the Blue Jackets on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena. Among a scant list of positives in a 3-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, that had to be near the top.
Despite being thoroughly outplayed from start to finish, allowing Toronto to tie a best-of-five series in the playoff qualifying round at one game apiece, the Jackets somehow managed to keep it close.
They were outshot 39-20 and allowed a dangerous Maple Leafs team to have five power plays.
The good news came in drips and drabs, including the fact the Jackets' penalty-killers went 5 for 5 and goalie Joonas Korpisalo looked great again _ coming off a 28-save shutout in his postseason debut Sunday in Game 1. His teammates also blocked 18 shots in front of him, playing with desperation in their defensive zone, but it wasn't enough to win a second straight game against Toronto.
The only negative for Toronto happened late in the third period, when defenseman Jake Muzzin went down after a scary collision.
After taking a gloved whack in the side from Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois, Muzzin fell to the ice behind the Toronto net and then lunged forward at the puck _ driving his head into the back of Oliver Bjorkstrand's leg. Muzzin initially sat up and talked to a member of the Maple Leafs' medical staff before lying back down while a stretcher was retrieved.
Muzzin was taken off on the stretcher as players from both teams watched in silence, those on the ice from one knee. Both teams clacked their sticks along the boards as he was taken off.
The Maple Leafs played with their own desperation knowing a 2-0 deficit in a five-game series is practically a death knell. Only one team has overcome that deficit in NHL history _ the New York Islanders in 1985 _ while the other 55 lost.
Making sure the Maple Leafs didn't face those odds were their top two centers, Auston Matthews and captain John Tavares.
Toronto dominated the first period, playing with desperation from the time the puck first hit the ice.
The Maple Leafs built a 15-6 shot advantage in the first 20 minutes, earned two power plays and pinned the Blue Jackets into their own end of the ice for long stretches.
Toronto also took an early physical toll when power forward Kyle Clifford took a big run at Dean Kukan in the right-wing corner of the Columbus zone.
Clifford appeared to make initial shoulder-to-shoulder contact with the Blue Jackets' defenseman, which sent Kukan's head back as he dropped to the ice. Kukan left the game and didn't return until late in the period. His re-emergence was one of the few positives for the Blue Jackets, along with the continued excellence of Korpisalo.
After stopping all 15 shots he faced in the first, the Jackets' goalie did everything he could against 14 more shots in the second period to keep his team in the game. Backed by two more power plays, the Maple Leafs threw everything they could at Korpisalo until Matthews finally got one by him on a 3-on-2 rush with 4:00 left in the period.
Toronto's leading goal-scorer, who finished third in the NHL with 47 goals, ended Korpisalo's shutout streak at 96 minutes � redirecting a pass from Zach Hyman into the far side of the net to finally get the Maple Leafs on the scoreboard.
The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, struggled to get their offense going in the first two periods. Their best chance to score happened shortly after Matthews' goal, when Zach Werenski and Cam Atkinson had back-to-back shots during 4-on-4 that Frederik Andersen turned away.
Instead of gaining late momentum with a tying goal, the Jackets went to their locker room for the second intermission down 1-0 despite a 29-12 shot difference favoring the Maple Leafs.
In the third, Tavares beat Korpisalo on a breakaway at 4:56 that added an insurance goal, making it 2-0 and putting further pressure on Columbus' offense.
Despite three straight power plays late in the third, including the final one with Korpisalo on the bench for an extra skater, the Blue Jackets were unable to score.
Morgan Rielly added an empty-netter in the final minute.
It was just one of those days, and it could have been worse.
