The highly anticipated Battle of Ontario will have to wait.
Instead, the Maple Leafs will battle Alex Ovechkin and the rest of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs.
That became a fact Sunday when the Leafs failed to get a point against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Air Canada Centre, losing 3-2 before a crowd of 19,369.
The Leafs finished the 2016-17 regular season with 95 points and settled into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 40-27-15.
Had the Leafs earned just one point, they would have finished in third place in the Atlantic Division and squared off with the rival Ottawa Senators in the opening round.