Dubois Caps hats trick OT, blue jackets put leaves on the bottom

Columbus Blue Jackets goalkeeper Elvis Merzlikins (90) is leaving his net to play the puck as Toronto Maple Leafs right-back defender Kasperi Kapanen (24) chases in the second period of the NHL hockey playoffs on Thursday, August 6, 2020. , Toronto. (Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press via AP) RELATED PRESS

TORONTO (AP) – Pierre-Luke Dubois scored his third goal in extra time at At 6:24 p.m., Thursday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets completed a bout three goals less to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 and take a 2-1 lead in their playoff qualifying series.

Dubois won quickly after Alexander Toure broke Toronto’s John Tavare record.

“(Texere) got it, that’s all I remember,” Dubois said. “He played well, he couldn’t stand it right away. The disc, he was patient with it and, handing him a nice saucer in an ice bowl, freed me from the race. It was a real game for him.”

The blue jackets recovered from a 3-0 deficit in the middle of the second period, scoring twice in 3 1/2 minutes to mid-third to level the score.

Seth Jones also scored for Columbus.

Joonas Korpisalo lost all three Toronto goals and scored 12 games before being picked up in the second period. Elvis Merzlikkin stopped all 21 throws he faced to win the Blue Jackets from the advance to the traditional 16-team first round.  The power outage affected large parts

Kodi Ceci, William Nielander and Nicholas Robertson scored for Maple Leafs and Frederick Anderson scored 39 goals.

Dubois – who was in a screaming match on the bench with “Blue Jackets” manager Jānis Tortorella in the defeat of the 2nd match – started the return of Columbus when he scored from the bottom of the right circle with the result 8:21 in the second.

Jones reached 3-2 with a palm of his hand from the right circle over Andersen’s shoulder in the third 7:28, and Dubois equalized the result in the pre-race – 9:11 remaining in the regulation.

“We stayed with it, at the end of the second, third period we started playing good hockey and we were inside,” Jones said. “Overtime wasn’t our best, but we found a way to hold together, play solid defense, block a few shots and when we had the chance (Dubois), we didn’t miss it.”

Toronto had a break in the early days of Columbus ‘strength when Ceci fired from the right side of defender Jones’ ankle.

Nielander scored from the threshold in 10 seconds in Mitch Marner’s power game in the strength game at 7:08 after the second. The 18-year-old rookie Robertson scored his first NHL goal when his left-corner kick hit Corpus Christi, then walked through and crossed the line at 8:48, chasing the starting fan.

“It gave us a breath,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said of the change of goalkeeper. “I think that’s one of the most important things. We had to stop and slow it down a bit because it dragged us.”

Toronto saw a Columbus team other than the elimination of Game 2, in which the Blue Jackets battled to withstand any offensive pressure.

“Just cancel it,” said Leafs manager Sheldon Keefs.

“I think we’re a team that recovered all year when things didn’t go our way. The guys showed up the next day and played at the top of their lungs. We need to focus and prepare.”

NOTES:

Ceci’s only regular season goal also came against the Blue Jackets. … Dubois’ “hat-trick” was the first Blue Jackets in the history of playoff games. … Toronto was without Jake Muzzin, who left the game on a stretcher on Tuesday after having a violent head contact with Oliver Bjorkstrader’s knee. He is out of the hospital and with the team again, but he is not available in the rest of the series. Martins Marancins skated in his place.