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

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

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

Best-of-5 series is tied, 1-1

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without defenseman Jake Muzzin for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday.

Muzzin was discharged from a hospital overnight Tuesday. He is at a hotel in Toronto, the Eastern Conference hub city, but will not play for the remainder of the series because of an injury he sustained with 1:52 remaining in the third period of Game 2.

As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.

Teams that win Game 3 after a series is tied 1-1 are 21-7 (75 percent) winning a best-of-5 NHL series (14-2 when last used from 1980-86).

Here are 3 keys to Game 3:

1. How Maple Leafs defense adjusts without Muzzin

Travis Dermott will partner with Justin Holl in place of Muzzin, a Stanley Cup champion with the Los Angeles Kings (2014). Holl said he feels very comfortable playing with Dermott. They played together late in the regular season when Muzzin was injured.

"I like the way we were playing before the pause and I think he stepped in there really nicely and played really well," Holl said. "He's fast, he's very good offensively, and he's very dependable defensively. So really I feel very comfortable with him and I have no doubts in his abilities."

2. Blue Jackets return to form

The Blue Jackets played with fire when they were called for five penalties in Game 2 after allowing one power play in the opener. They will look to play an aggressive but disciplined game to counter Toronto's offensive firepower.

"You know what they bring so for us it's just trying to stop them and using our physicality to our advantage," forward Nick Foligno said Wednesday. "I think the first game that's what helped us with them not generating too much. I think our forecheck needs to be better. I mean, it's all stuff that we know. That's why I think we're moving past it. And there's one thing about our team, we always seem to bounce back the right way and that's why I'm confident in this group."

3. Power play could be key to break goalie duel

Neither team has scored a power-play goal through the first two games and each has a shutout. Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves for the first Blue Jackets shutout in Stanley Cup Playoffs history in his postseason debut, a 2-0 win in Game 1. He extended his shutout streak to 96:00 before Auston Matthews scored on Toronto's 56th shot of the series in Game 2. Frederik Andersen earned his first Maple Leafs playoff shutout in a 3-0 victory Tuesday and has allowed one goal in two games.

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- Mitchell Marner

William Nylander -- John Tavares -- Ilya Mikheyev

Nicholas Robertson -- Alex Kerfoot -- Kasperi Kapanen

Kyle Clifford -- Pierre Engvall -- Jason Spezza

Morgan Rielly -- Cody Ceci

Travis Dermott -- Justin Holl

Martin Marincin -- Tyson Barrie

Frederik Andersen

Jack Campbell

Scratched: Frederik Gauthier, Kasimir Kaskisuo, Timothy Liljegren, Denis Malgin, Nic Petan, Calle Rosen, Rasmus Sandin, Joseph Woll

Unfit to play:Jake Muzzin, Andreas Johnsson

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Alexandre Texier -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson

Gustav 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

Scratched:Josh Anderson, Gabriel Carlsson, Adam Clendening, Nathan Gerbe, Scott Harrington, Matiss Kivlenieks, Dean Kukan, Stefan Matteau, Devin Shore, Kevin Stenlund

Unfit to play: None

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate … Nutivaara skated with Murray at practice Wednesday. Kukan missed part of the first period Tuesday after taking a hit from Clifford but returned and finished the game. … Marincin is expected to play his first game of the Qualifiers.