Game 3 Preview: Leafs look to take series lead

The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to ride the momentum into Game Three tonight, with a 2-1 series lead on the line.

With veteran defenceman Jake Muzzin unable to play for the remainder of the Stanley Cup Qualifying series due to an injury sustained late in Tuesday's game, Toronto's blueline will see the return of Martin Marincin.

Toronto was no stranger to injury woes on the backend this season, having played without Morgan Rielly for 23 games, Cody Ceci for 14 games, and Muzzin for 16 games. In those stretches, Toronto's defensive corps shouldered the weight and rose to the occasion, a job they'll need to do another time around in the postseason.

Without Muzzin, players like Justin Holl and Travis Dermott will see an added opportunity to make an impact for Toronto. Rielly spoke about the void left without their veteran defender at Wednesday's team practice. "It's important that we have guys that are willing to take on more responsibility. I don't think you can replace what [Muzzin] does for our team but I think it's important to have other guys help fill that void. He really offers a lot, but I think it's a good opportunity for guys to play more minutes, to play in different situations and rise to the occasion."

The addition of Marincin to the lineup in the short term made sense to Head Coach Sheldon Keefe. "We think that Marty brings some of the elements that Muzzin brings," Keefe said after practice. "Obviously he doesn't replace Muzzin in the intangibles he brings; he's a very important player for us. But there are some elements in particular, like the penalty killing and the size, there are some similarities in terms of what he can provide us and we think that is important."

With some defensive shake ups ahead this evening, it's imperative that Frederik Andersen continues his strong postseason performance. The netminder has allowed only one goal over 54 shots, sporting the league's second-highest save percentage (.981) and goals against average (.50) in the postseason by Thursday morning.

In a series that has been praised for the goaltending battle between Andersen and Columbus' Joonas Korpisalo, each game has been decided by the team able to score first.

It was Auston Matthews that broke the dam on Tuesday with a perfect redirection, followed by John Tavares with a breakaway tally. Morgan Rielly added an insurance empty-net goal from his own end, and we rejoiced in the sight of hockey hugs once again. After finding their groove on Tuesday, Toronto's offense will be looking to strike early and often in Game Three.

You can expect Toronto to continue building off an all around great team performance in Game Two, with the added motivator of playing for their sidelined teammate Muzzin.