Cam Atkinson scored early in the third period and the Columbus Blue Jackets went on to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 in the opener of a best-of-five qualifying series in Toronto on Sunday night.
Joonas Korpisalo, making his career playoff debut, stopped 28 shots to earn the first playoff shutout in the history of the Blue Jackets.
Atkinson gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 1:05 of the third period with his eighth career playoff goal on a shot from the top of the right circle after a breakout down the wing. David Savard earned an assist.
Alexander Wennberg added an empty-net goal at 19:41 of the third period.
Frederik Andersen made 33 saves in the Toronto goal.
Toronto's Nick Robertson, 18, made his NHL debut and had a good scoring chance on his first shift.
Andersen stopped Pierre-Luc Dubois, who broke in alone with about nine minutes left in the first period; he also stopped Zach Werenski seconds later.
Each team hit a post in the final three minutes of the first -- Toronto's Auston Matthews with 2:40 remaining and Werenski with 2:25 left.
The Blue Jackets opened the second period with an unsuccessful power play after Cody Ceci was penalized for interference with 37 seconds left in the first period.
The Maple Leafs had their first power play when Atkinson was penalized for tripping at 5:54 of the second period. Korpisalo made an aggressive play at the side of the net to stop Matthews, and the Blue Jackets killed the penalty.
Andersen foiled Alexandre Texier on a slap shot with 4:23 left in the second. Korpisalo answered with a smart glove save on a shot from the slot by Matthews 40 seconds later.
Andersen used his left leg to stop an attempt from the edge of the crease by Oliver Bjorkstrand with two minutes left in the period.
Columbus led 22-19 in shots on goal after two periods.
--Field Level Media
