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The Toronto Maple Leafs took a step towards locking up home-ice advantage in their first-round match against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as the bottom-six did most of the scoring in a 4-2 victory over the bottom-dwelling Columbus Blue Jackets at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
Zach Aston-Reese tallied twice, Alex Kerfoot, and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto and Joseph Woll made 24 saves for his fourth win of the season, as the Leafs opened up a six-point lead on Tampa Bay with five games left in the regular season.
“The Aston-Reese, Kampf, and Lafferty line were great all night long.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “It was great to see them rewarded in a game like this. When you have really good habits and details, things tend to go your way. It was great to see that. Those guys have really been working.”
Woll was solid on the night, with his only mistake coming on Jack Roslovic’s first-period tying marker, as the rookie tripped himself moving laterally trying to make the save. The other Columbus goal was a perfect shot by Eric Robinson on the short side after Leafs defenseman Justin Holl was caught flat-footed by the speedy Jackets forward.
“In the second period, there was more action for him. I thought he was really good there. He held them off the sheet.” Keefe said. “He should be confident. He’s played really well for us. The last time we played Columbus was probably one of the games he would want back that he has played here. A bit of a do-over is a good thing for him.”
The big news at practice before the club headed to Boston for Thursday night’s match against the Bruins was the full participation of Ryan O’Reilly. The veteran center was out four weeks with a broken finger and centered a checking line with Noel Acciari and Alex Kerfoot, instead of playing the wing in the top six or moving John Tavares to the wing.
This is the role that was imagined when the Leafs acquired O’Reilly from St. Louis in February and with five games left on the schedule, it is probable that the former Conn Smythe winner will play most of the time on the third line providing depth in back of Matthews and Tavares.
It is expected that Ilya Samsonov will make the start against the Bruins
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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