The preparatory play-off phase in the North American ice hockey league, seeding qualifiers and playoff games, ended on Sunday and the night before Monday, Swedish time.

It was 2-2 in matches between Columbus and Toronto before the fifth and final match between the teams, which would thus decide who would be allowed to continue playing, and who would have to put the skates on the shelf for this season.

Before the game, Toronto had, at least on paper, a small advantage, as the team had scored ten goals - compared to Columbus' nine goals, in the previous four games. But the Canadian team did not have a chance.

The Columbus goalkeeper, the Finn Joonas Korpisalo, was unwavering and saved all 33 shots that Toronto fired at him. At the same time, Columbus scored three goals in Toronto's box.

For Columbus, Alexander Wennberg and Gustav Nyquist were on the ice, and Nyquist managed his time in the rink with a play to the 2-0 goal.

Andreas Johnsson was back in Toronto after a knee operation that has kept him out of games since 19 February. William Nylander and Pierre Engvall were also on the ice for Toronto.

In the so-called seeding qualifier for the Stanley Cup playoffs, which have been played between the top four teams in the Eastern and Western NHL, respectively, Washington won the final game against Boston in the Eastern Conference and Dallas won against St. Louis in the final game of the Western Conference.