Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets: Auston Matthews Scores in Game 700 as Kirill Marchenko Burns His Old Team

Kirill Marchenko knew the boos were coming. They were relentless all night at Nationwide Arena for the former Blue Jacket, and he answered the only way a scorer can: by tying the game on a power play, then watching his new team bury his old one.

Auston Matthews scored in his 700th NHL game, Easton Cowan and Jack Roslovic each had a goal and two assists, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 on Tuesday night. Toronto scored four straight goals in the second period to turn a tight game into a rout, and Anthony Stolarz made 36 saves.

A Homecoming With a Soundtrack

This was the first meeting between the teams since the September trade that sent Marchenko to Toronto and Matthew Knies to Columbus as part of a six-player deal, according to NHL.com. Columbus got the early lead anyway when Jake Christiansen scored at 2:38 of the first, his first goal since Dec. 21, 2024.

Then Marchenko made the crowd louder in the worst way. On a Toronto power play at 8:16, Matthews let a shot go and it deflected in off Marchenko's skate at the right post. It was his fifth goal of the year, and he seemed unbothered by the reception.

"It's fine, I've been ready for that," Marchenko said. "But again, I can't control that. I appreciate all fans who's been here when I played. It doesn't matter for me, actually. I just do my work and I try to be better."

Columbus thought it had retaken the lead before intermission, but Kent Johnson's one-timer was waved off because the period had already ended, per the AP. That was the last break the Blue Jackets would catch for a while.

The Turning Point: Four Goals in 9:37

The second period was a demolition. William Nylander put Toronto ahead at 2:26 with a wrist shot from the right circle. Forty-six seconds later, Matthews took a cross-ice pass from Roslovic on the left wing and snapped it in for a 3-1 lead in his 700th game.

The Leafs were not done. With Marshall Rifai in the box for slashing, Cowan scored short-handed at 6:48. "I had a decent shot there," Cowan said. "I think the goalie was favoring (Nylander), which I probably would too. I just picked my spot, so it felt good."

Roslovic then tipped in a backdoor feed from Morgan Rielly at 12:03 to make it 5-1, and that was the end of the night for Jet Greaves, who allowed five goals on 19 shots. Cam Talbot took over and stopped two of the three shots he faced.

Columbus coach Rick Bowness sounded stunned. "I didn't see that coming," he said. "Had good meetings today and thought we were ready to go. We made it a little too easy on their top-down guys. They made us pay the price."

Matthews Joins Elite Company

The milestone came with a stat line worthy of the occasion. NHL.com noted that Matthews' goal was the 436th of his career, tying Pavel Bure for the sixth most by any player through 700 games, behind Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy, Brett Hull and Jari Kurri. The AP added that he has 16 goals and 27 points in 21 career games against Columbus, which feels less like a matchup and more like a subscription service.

He finished with a goal and an assist, his eighth goal and 10th assist of the season.

The Supporting Cast

Easton Cowan: A goal and two assists, plus history. NHL.com noted he became the first Maple Leafs player age 21 or younger to score a short-handed goal since Mitch Marner on Feb. 14, 2019.

Jack Roslovic: A goal and two assists, including the cross-ice feed on Matthews' goal.

Morgan Rielly: Three assists and four blocked shots. "On a back to back, you want to try to play simple, especially on the road," he said. "I thought the goalie was outstanding."

Marshall Rifai: His first NHL goal, in his fifth career game, made it 6-2 at 16:58 of the third.

Anthony Stolarz: 36 saves on 38 shots, including a wave of Columbus pressure that never really turned into anything.

Columbus Searches for Answers

Charlie Coyle got one back at 4:13 of the third, sliding on his stomach beside the net when he finally got his first goal of the season. He did not sound like someone celebrating it. "We have to stay out of the box," Coyle said. "We're saying the same stuff over and over and I really don't want to even sit here and say it."

Knies, facing his former team, put three shots on goal and had two hits, per NHL.com. "It was weird, to be honest," he said.

There was also a late second-period fight, when Toronto's Zack MacEwen and Columbus' Erik Gudbranson squared off at 17:26. MacEwen was assessed an instigator penalty and a misconduct.

On the injury front, NHL.com reported that Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe left at 13:05 of the first period and did not return after taking a high stick to the face.

Stats That Matter

• 38-22: Columbus outshot Toronto and still lost by four.
• 0 for 6: The Blue Jackets' power play, outscored by Toronto's penalty kill thanks to Cowan.
• 31-14: Columbus' edge in hits, which did nothing to slow down the second-period avalanche.
• 15-3: How badly Columbus has been outscored in second periods through eight games, per the AP.

What It Means

Toronto improves to 5-4-2 with 12 points and has won two straight after a three-game skid, sweeping a back-to-back that started with a 3-1 win over San Jose on Monday. The AP noted it was just the Leafs' second road win of the season. The Rangers visit Toronto on Thursday.

Columbus drops to 3-5-0 with six points and has lost four of its past five. The Blue Jackets host Vegas on Saturday.

Closing Take

Marchenko said the right things about his old fans, and he probably meant them. But the scoreboard said something else entirely. On a night built around Matthews' milestone and Marchenko's return, the Blue Jackets were the extras in somebody else's movie, outshooting the Leafs and getting outscored by a mile. Knies called it weird. Columbus fans probably have stronger words.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.