Dubois, Blue Jackets rally past Maple Leafs in Game 3, lead series

Pierre-Luc Dubois completed a hat trick at 18:24 of overtime, and the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied from three goals down for a 4-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday.

Dubois took a pass from Alexandre Texier and beat Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen with a backhand on a breakaway.

"[Texier] made a nice play, didn't pass it right away, didn't chip it right away, just kept the puck, was patient with it and passed a nice little saucer up the middle of the ice to get me free on the breakaway," said Dubois, whose hat trick is the first in Blue Jackets playoff history. "That was a [heck] of a play by him."

WATCH: [All Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets highlights]

Columbus leads the best-of-5 series. Teams that win Game 3 after a series is tied 1-1 are 22-7 (75.9 percent) winning a best-of-5 NHL series (14-2 when last used from 1980-86).

Seth Jones scored, and Cam Atkinson had two assists for Columbus, which is the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference. Joonas Korpisalo allowed three goals on 15 shots before being replaced in the second period by Elvis Merzlikins, who made 21 saves.

Game 4 of the best-of-5 series will be in Toronto, the Eastern Conference hub city, on Friday (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, TVAS, FS-O).

"I want them to have a ball right now, that's why we play," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "It was a really good game by both teams. It's too bad fans weren't in the building. I want them to enjoy themselves right now in the proper way. I trust them. They'll be ready to go tomorrow."

Nicholas Robertson scored his first NHL goal, and Andersen made 39 saves for Toronto, the No. 8 seed.

"Well, I feel like the game just got away from us right from the start," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "I didn't like our game in the first period, didn't like our game at 1-0, didn't like our game at 2-0, 3-0. We just got what we deserved today. I thought we reverted back to a lot of really bad habits. We didn't have any real purpose or plan to our game today, we were just making it up as we go along. So we get what we deserve."

Dubois scored to make it 3-1 at 11:39 of the second period from the bottom of the right circle. The goal ended Andersen's shutout streak at 110:34 after a 3-0 win in Game 2 on Tuesday.

"If [Dubois] wants to be a difference-maker, a game changer, one of the best players in the League, he has all the capabilities, all the tools," Atkinson said. "Tonight he showed it. It's not always going to go your way, but it's those moments where you capitalize on those opportunities. Big-time players step up in big-time crucial situations. And sure enough, you know, hat trick, he put us all on his back and it was good to see him coming out like that tonight."

Jones cut it to 3-2 at 7:28 of the third period on a shot from the top of the right circle that beat Andersen short side over the left shoulder, and Dubois tied it 3-3 at 10:48 of the third on a 2-on-1.

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

Cody Ceci scored his first NHL playoff goal to give Toronto a 1-0 lead at 18:52 of the first with a one-timer that redirected in off the left leg of Jones. It was the first shorthanded goal in the playoffs by a Maple Leafs defenseman since Jim McKenny in 1972.

William Nylander made it 2-0 at 7:08 of the second period with a power-play goal.

Robertson pushed the lead to 3-0 at 8:48 of the second with a one-timer from the left face-off dot under the glove of Korpisalo, who was pulled following the goal. He is the first 18-year-old to score a playoff goal for the Maple Leafs since Ted Kennedy in 1944, and the first in the NHL since Sam Bennett did so for the Calgary Flames in 2015.

"Obviously I was excited, but you know I've got to put that excitement away and you had to finish the period there," Robertson said. "We didn't get the result we wanted, so I'm just hoping we can be excited after tomorrow's game."

Maple Leafs defenseman Martin Marincin played 19:29 in place of Jake Muzzin, who was injured in Game 2 and is out for the series.

NHL.com columnist Dave Stubbs contributed to this report