3 most impressive Toronto Maple Leafs players from 5-0 win over Columbus Blue Jackets feat. Nicolas Robertson

The Toronto Maple Leafs hoped to put distance between themselves and the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning to maintain their first place position in the Atlantic Division standings.

Thanks to their convincing 5-0 shutout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto, they did just that. The Maple Leafs improved to 47-25-4, while the Blue Jackets fell to 34-32-9.

Nicolas Robertson broke the ice, scoring just past the midway point of the opening 20 minutes of play with his 13th goal of the season. He then followed that up with his second goal of the game at the midway point of the second period, increasing Toronto's lead to 2-0.

Getting in on the fun was William Nylander, who subsequently scored twice, bumping Toronto's lead to 4-0.

Captain Auston Matthews then reached the 30-goal mark for the ninth consecutive season, accounting for all nine years that he's played in the NHL; his goal increased the lead to 5-0.

3 most impressive Toronto Maple Leafs players from 5-0 win over Columbus Blue Jackets

#1. Nicolas Robertson

After starting the campaign with uncertainty hanging over his head concerning his future with the franchise, Robertson had himself one of the best games of his career on Saturday against the Blue Jackets.

He scored twice, giving him a total of 14 goals on the season, tying his output from last season that also happened to be a career high.

He finished the game with a +2 rating in just 8:07 of ice time; while he didn't have anywhere near big minutes, he made the most of them.

#2. William Nylander

Scoring twice in a game is nothing unusual for Nylander, who increased his own total so far this season to 44.

That's a new career high in goals for Nylander, who scored 40 in each of the last two prior seasons coming into 2024-25. Playing in the first season of an eight-year contract that he signed last fall, he's been worth every penny paid to him so far.

He appeared in a total of 17:43 of ice time, finishing with a +2 rating.

#3. Morgan Rielly

The leader of the defense for the Maple Leafs, Rielly had a positive outing on Saturday against the Blue Jackets.

Not only did he finish tied for a team-high +3 rating, but he also picked up a pair of assists in 20:42 of total ice time.