GAME 3 FINAL: Blue Jackets 4, Maple Leafs 3 (OT)

Behind a hat trick from Pierre-Luc Dubois, Columbus came back to win Game 3 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs qualifying series, capturing a 4-3 decision against Toronto in overtime on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The Blue Jackets now can advance with a victory in Game 4 on Friday night.

Game in a Paragraph

Columbus found itself in an uphill battle as Toronto led 1-0 after a period and 3-0 in the middle of the second period. The Blue Jackets got one back when-Luc Dubois scored late in the second then turned the game on its head in the third with goals from Seth Jones and Dubois again. The game went to overtime, where there were chances for each side before Dubois' game-winning goal with 1:36 to go in the extra frame.

CBJ Standouts

Quote of the Game

Jones: "Down 3-0 is never a spot you want to be in. But we stayed with it, started playing some good hockey late second, third period. We found ourselves back into it. Overtime wasn't our best, but we found a way to stick together, play some solid defense, blocked some shots and luckily we got a chance and P-L didn't miss."

Quick Recap

The Blue Jackets had a better start than Game 2, creating more offensive zone time, but Toronto had the best early chances, including a transition 3-on-1 in which Joonas Korpisalo made an excellent stop on John Tavares and a side-to-side stop on Kasperi Kapanen as he got behind the defense on a nice stretch feed.

Columbus' best chance of the period came with just under six minutes to go as a nice transition move saw Gus Nyquist drop the puck to the trailing Boone Jenner, but his wrist shot from the slot hit the crossbar dead-on and came back underneath Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen.

Toronto then got the opening goal of the game while shorthanded with 1:08 to play in the period. A harmless looking slap shot from the right point by Cody Ceci ricocheted off the skate of Jones in front of the net and deflected past Korpisalo to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead.

The Blue Jackets top line of Aktinson, Dubois and Alexandre Texier put together some good shifts to start the second while Mitchell Marner hit the crossbar in transition for Toronto before the goals started coming fast and furious.

Toronto made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 7:08, just 10 seconds into its first man advantage of the night, as Marner found Nylander alone in front and he had plenty of time to switch to his forehand and stuff it by Korpisalo. Rookie forward Nicholas Robinson, just 18 years old, then made it 3-0 at 8:48 as he took a feed from Kapanen low on the left and put a one-timer past Korpisalo.

CBJ head coach John Tortorella made the decision to replace Korpisalo with Merzlikins at that point looking for a momentum change, and he got it. Columbus soon earned a power play, and moments after it was over, Zach Werenski completed a strong shift with a perfect diagonal feed to Dubois at the side of the net, and the Jackets center had plenty of time to fire it over the sprawling Andersen.

The comeback then was completed in the third as the Blue Jackets got a pair of goals to tie it. First, a quick transition move ended up in the net as Jones intercepted Alexander Kerfoot's clearing attempt and put an absolute laser over Anderson's shoulder, short side, from the right circle at 7:28.

Then it became a tie game with 9:11 to go as Dubois got his second of the night. It was another transition goal, as Dubois had a 2-on-1 with Texier and chose to shoot, beating Andersen past the blocker from the right wing.

A frantic sequence late in the third presented glorious scoring chances either way. Dubois nearly completed the hat trick and he tried to stuff home the rebound of a Vladislav Gavrikov shot, then with just over three minutes to go, as the puck went the other way, Merzlikins had to stretch out and sprawl to smother a shot by Auston Matthews from in front. In the final minute, Jenner nearly won it, as he dispossessed Matthews and had a shot from the slot that Andersen turned aside.

In overtime, Toronto pushed for a goal in the opening 10 minutes but could not find it, in part because of Merzlikins and also a fantastic diving poke check by Nick Foligno that broke up a potential breakaway by Matthews near the midway point. Columbus had a pair of great chances in overtime as well as Texier and Werenski were denied by Andersen within the same minute, then Merzlikins had to thwart a Toronto attack with some stops in quick succession.

Finally, at 18:24, Dubois made history and gave the Blue Jackets the win with his third goal. Texier fed him in behind the Toronto defense, and Dubois flipped a backhander over Andersen to set off a raucous celebration for the union blue.

Notable

Columbus battled back to win 4-3 after facing a 3-0 deficit for the third time in its playoff history. The Blue Jackets have just five three-goal comeback wins in regular-season franchise history. ... The Blue Jackets overturned a three-goal deficit to tie the game for the first time all season. ... Columbus held a 44-36 edge in shots on goal. ... The Blue Jackets are now 6-4 all-time in playoff overtime games. ... Atkinson remains the Blue Jackets' all-time leader in playoff points with an 8-14-22 line in 30 postseason games. … Toronto's opening two goals were the first two special teams tallies of the series. … Korpisalo entered the series with a .970 save percentage (64 saves on 66 shots) but stopped 12 of 15 shots. … Robertson became the third Maple Leafs player in franchise history to score a playoff goal before the age of 19.

Roster Report

Columbus made one change to the lineup from its Game 2 loss, entering Markus Nutivaara into the lineup in place of Dean Kukan (coach's decision). The other scratches were forwards Josh Anderson (injury), Nathan Gerbe, Stefan Matteau, Devin Shore and Kevin Stenlund; defensemen Gabriel Carlsson, Adam Clendening, Scott Harrington and Andrew Peeke; and goalie Matiss Kivlenieks.

Up Next

The Blue Jackets take on the Maple Leafs in Game 4 on Friday night at 8 p.m.