3 Keys: Blue Jackets vs. Maple Leafs, Game 5 of Cup Qualifiers

Korpisalo to start, Werenski in for Columbus; winner will face Lightning in Playoffs as No. 7 seed in Eastern Conference

By Sean Farrell

NHL.com Independent Correspondent

August 09, 2020

No. 9 Blue Jackets vs. No. 8 Maple Leafs

8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS, FS-O

Best-of-5 series is tied, 2-2

Goalie Joonas Korpisalo will start and defenseman Zach Werenski will be in the lineup for the Columbus Blue Jackets when they play the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Sunday.

The winner will play the Tampa Bay Lightning as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference First Round in Toronto, the Eastern hub city. The loser will have a 12.5 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery on Monday.

The Blue Jackets will be looking to bounce back following a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 4 on Friday, when they led 3-0 with less than four minutes remaining in the third period. Werenski left the game midway through the period. As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.

Korpisalo started the first three games of the series, but was pulled after allowing three goals in Game 3. Coach John Tortorella told the Blue Jackets radio network that Elvis Merzlikins is injured.

Matiss Kivlenieks is projected to back up Korpisalo.

"[Korpisalo] had a great year before his injury (in March)," defenseman Seth Jones said. "He came and did some great things in this series for us. Whatever goalie is in the net we're happy and we're confident and comfortable with that. I know he'll have a great game tonight."

The Maple Leafs are looking to win an NHL postseason series for the first time since 2004, when they defeated the Ottawa Senators in seven games in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

"It was kind of hard to sleep because of the adrenaline (following Game 4)," Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner said.

Here are 3 keys to Game 5:

1. Top players need to step up

Each team figures to need its top players to rise to the occasion in order to advance. Toronto will be relying on forwards Auston Matthews, who scored the overtime goal in Game 4 and leads the Maple Leafs with six points (two goals, four assists), Marner (four assists), William Nylander (four points; two goals, two assists) and John Tavares (three points; two goals, one assist).

Columbus will look to forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois, who has four points (three goals, one assist) in the past two games, including the first hat trick in Blue Jackets postseason history in Game 3, and Cam Atkinson, who leads Columbus with five points (two goals, three assists).

2. Blue Jackets goaltending

Korpisalo had a 28-save shutout in his first NHL postseason game in Game 1, a 2-0 win. He also played well in a 3-0 loss in Game 2, stopping 36 of 38 shots, but he struggled a bit in Game 3, allowing three goals on 15 shots before being pulled for Merzlikins.

"I think our goaltenders have been great," Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. "And I've said it from the beginning of the series and coming into this qualification round, that it's a strength of ours to have two goalies that can compete against each other internally and always want to be No. 1. So I think it's a great situation for us, and both have shown here that they're capable of carrying that responsibility."

3. Toronto's depth

The Maple Leafs have relied heavily on their top-six forwards for offense in the series, but their fourth line stepped up as well in Game 4. Jason Spezza's fight with Blue Jackets defenseman Dean Kukan in the second period brought some much-needed energy to the bench, and linemates Kyle Clifford and Pierre Engvall played some key minutes down the stretch.

"He and his line were tremendous for us," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We were using basically six guys with the goalie out, and then we were using Spezza's line, our fourth line, that's what we were using in the final 4:00 of the game. So it speaks to how they were competing and the impact they were making on the game yesterday."