GAME 3 PREVIEW: Blue Jackets look to find offense, respond

(8) MAPLE LEAFS at (9) BLUE JACKETS

Game 3; Best-of-five series tied 1-1

Thursday, 8 p.m. ET, Scotiabank Arena, Toronto (FOX Sports Ohio, NBCSN, CBJ app, FOX Sports app, 97.1 The Fan)

Going into this series against Toronto, the biggest question facing the Blue Jackets was how the team would try to slow down the high-powered Toronto attack.

The second biggest question dealt with Columbus' own scoring potential. Considering the Blue Jackets were near the bottom of the NHL this year in goals per game, it was fair to wonder how well Columbus was going to fare in the scoring department at a time when every inch of ice was going to be fought for.

"It's important that our top guys do what they need to do offensively," head coach John Tortorella said ahead of Game 1. "We just can't rely on grinding away. We need some big plays at key times offensively if we're going to have the opportunity to keep on moving. The guys know on our team where the responsibility lies and what needs to be done. We feel really comfortable as far as the mind-set of the whole group."

Two games into the postseason, it is still fair to wonder about the CBJ attack. Columbus has just two goals in the two games, one of them an empty-netter at the end of Game 1, and the 20 shots on goal the team had while being shut out in Game 2 matched a franchise low in a postseason game.

So what has to change? Well, it's no time for panic, but then again it never is in the midst of a tight postseason series. But it is worth pointing out the Blue Jackets generated a fair number of chances in Game 1, especially from a top line that was able to forecheck and create turnovers.

But that was largely missing in Game 2 as Toronto controlled the puck. The Blue Jackets are a team that must forecheck and pester to create scoring opportunities, but they seemed a step behind for most of the game.

To CBJ captain Nick Foligno, the Blue Jackets' offensive woes were a more a symptom of the bigger problem, mainly that Columbus was chasing the game all afternoon.

"I think we can just shoot more, if you look at the stats from yesterday," Foligno said, referring to Game 2. "That's just something that obviously stood out with just our pressure. I think we can start taking more bad angle shots to break them down.

"I think it's pretty simple. I don't think it's rocket science how we need to play in order to have success and I think we saw that with our effort and our energy level. It wasn't where it needs to be, and it's the reason we didn't have the result we wanted. We shore that up and I think we have a better result."

The good news for Columbus is that hockey and series like these are all about responses. Toronto delivered its response in Game 2. Now the Blue Jackets can do the same in Game 3 on Thursday night.

"There's one thing about our team," Foligno said. "We always seem to bounce back the right way, and that's why I'm confident in this group in what we're going to bring (Thursday). Knowing it's a really important game for us, it's important to answer back after a tough one (Tuesday), and we're really excited about that challenge."

Know the Foe

If the Blue Jackets controlled the style of play during their shutout victory in Game 1, Toronto responded and did the same in Game 2. Facing the specter of going into a 2-0 hole -- essentially a death knell in NHL playoff history in a five-game series -- the Maple Leafs were the aggressor from the very beginning on the way to a 3-0 victory Tuesday.

"Our guys brought it to another level tonight from a competitive standpoint," head coach Sheldon Keefe said postgame.

The team's highly touted offensive talent found the puck possession, transition chances, and time and space that were all sorely missing for the Leafs in Game 1, and the result was two of the big names got on the board. After a plethora of chances in Game 1, Auston Matthews broke Joonas Korpisalo's scoreless streak late in the second period with a goal on the rush. And then, after a game filled with chances denied by Korpisalo, John Tavares took advantage of a foiled CBJ attack to beat Korpisalo on a breakaway.

The Leafs still have just three goals in two games, well below the team's scoring average of 3.39 goals per game this season. The Toronto power play, which clicked at a better than 25 percent mark after the promotion of Keefe early in the season, is 0-for-6 but did create enough chances to build momentum and confidence for the forwards.

But perhaps most encouraging for Toronto has been the play of the defense. So far, goalie Frederik Anderson has been more than solid, turning aside 54 of 55 shots so far, good for a .982 save percentage that leads the playoffs.

Toronto will have to make a change at the back, though, as shutdown defenseman Jake Muzzin -- injured late in Game 2 -- will be unable to play the rest of the series, the Leafs announced Tuesday, even though he has been released from the hospital following Tuesday's scary scene.

The Maple Leafs skated 28-year-old Czech defenseman Martin Marincin in his place Wednesday, and Keefe said he will go into the lineup. A similar defensive option as Muzzin, Marincin had a goal and three assists in 26 games this year with the Leafs, and he is a seven-year veteran with 227 games and a 5-29-34 line to his credit with Toronto and Edmonton in his NHL career.

3 Keys to the Game

Get the forecheck going: This is one thing that was missing from Game 2. In Game 1, Columbus was able to create turnovers in its offensive zone and earn chances off of that, something the team needs to get back to in Game 3.

Second chances: In a similar vein, the offensive chances were one-off tries in Game 2. The Blue Jackets need to sustain offensive zone time and get second-chance opportunities.

Move the feet: Columbus seemed a step behind in Game 2, and that was shown by the fact the Blue Jackets took five penalties, including two stick infractions, two holding calls and an interference penalty. You simply can't just give Toronto that much power-play time; even if the Leafs don't score, they gain momentum and tire some of the CBJ's top guns.

Of Note

Columbus' shutout of Toronto in Game 1 was the first in team playoff history, while the Leafs' blanking of the Blue Jackets in Game 2 was the third shutout suffered by Columbus in franchise history. … Korpisalo has posted a .970 save percentage in the series. ... Cam Atkinson has 20 career playoff points (8-12-20 in 28 games), the most in CBJ postseason history, and his eight goals also top the CBJ postseason record book. … Seth Jones is tied with Atkinson as the Blue Jackets' all-time leader in postseason assists with 12. … This series is the first-ever postseason meeting between the teams. … Both teams' NHL restart rosters have an average age of 26.1 years old, third youngest in the league, and both teams had 81 points in 70 regular season games. … Columbus is 0-2 all-time when splitting the first two games of a playoff series. ... Teams that win Game 3 of a best-of-five series after splitting the first two games are 21-7 all-time in NHL history.

Projected Lineup

(Subject to change)

Alexandre Texier - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson

Gus Nyquist - Alex Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand

Nick Foligno - Boone Jenner - Liam Foudy

Eric Robinson - Riley Nash - Emil Bemstrom

Zach Werenski - Seth Jones

Vladislav Gavrikov - David Savard

Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara

Joonas Korpisalo

Elvis Merzlikins

Scratches:Josh Anderson (injury), Nathan Gerbe, Stefan Matteau, Devin Shore, Kevin Stenlund, Gabriel Carlsson, Adam Clendening, Scott Harrington, Dean Kukan, Andrew Peeke, Matiss Kivlenieks

Roster Report:Columbus shuffled its top three forward lines in practice Wednesday, while Nutivaara could go in for Kukan, who was on the receiving end of a huge hit early in Game 2 and played sparingly afterward.