Maple Leafs Collapse in Columbus as John Tavares Reaches 500 Goals

Coming off two straight victories, the Toronto Maple Leafs took on the Columbus Blue Jackets in the lone game on Wednesday night, but had to take the ice without the services of William Nylander; who was resting on the second night of a back to back.

It started off pretty rough, but Toronto was able to make some type of buzz for about five minutes into the second but after that it was a complete disaster.

The team looked lifeless all night, sloppy on defense, and had no help from goaltender Cayden Primeau as they came away with a brutal 6-3 loss.

The only goal for Toronto was scored by Sammy Blais, who was making his Maple Leafs debut in replacement of Nylander, and skated on the fourth line with Steven Lorentz and Max Domi.

The story of the game besides the atrocious defensive game was the fact that the team once again lost another body to injury, and it was Lorentz again who ended up leaving the game after crashing headfirst into the boards:

It made a terrible night even worse, and their stars were nonexistent, with Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Matthew Knies finishing a combined minus-7, with the only positives being Blais' goal in his Maple Leafs debut and John Tavares scoring his 500th career goal late in the third period:

It also doesn't help that the team only won 42.4% of their face-offs, and gave up several high-danger chances and let the Columbus defense pinch all night.

Primeau stopped 17 of 23 shots and was a non factor for most of the night, and it might signal the end of his time with the team as Joseph Woll makes his return soon and the team has a bit of time in between games now.

There was not much to smile about for the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, but Tavares getting his 500th career goal and Blais' solid debut made for at least some silver lining after everything.

Toronto will get a chance to get their game back on track Saturday as they take on the Philadelphia Flyers on the road in Philly.