Toronto Maple Leafs 3 Columbus Blue Jackets 3
The Leafs and Blue Jackets went into overtime in game three of their best of five series Thursday night.
Pierre-Luc Dubois was the hero for Columbus as he capped off his hat-trick with the overtime winner.
The Leafs trail the Blue Jackets two games to one now and will face elimination in game four on Friday.
“We got what we deserved,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe.
“We didn’t have any real purpose or plan to our game, we were just making it up as we go,” Keefe said.
Toronto took an early 3-0 lead on Thursday night thanks to goals from Cody Ceci, William Nylander, and Nick Robertson.
It was a special night for Robertson as he scored his first ever NHL goal.
At just 18 years of age Robertson is making a name for himself.
Toronto went into Thursdays game without the services of Jake Muzzin who went down awkwardly in game 2.
Martin Marincin replaced Muzzin in the lineup for coach Keefe on Thursday night.
The Leafs came out flat in the third period and Columbus jumped all over them, tying the game up at three thanks to goals from Seth Jones, and Dubois.
Toronto had their chances in overtime and Fredrik Andersen kept them in it with a 39 save performance, but it was not enough.
A broken play and a bad decision sprung Dubois free and he put away the winning goal in overtime.
With the loss Toronto will now face elimination on Friday night.
The Leafs and Blue Jackets will clash at as the Leafs look to tie the series up at two games a piece.
The will puck drop at Torontos Scotiabank arena at 8pm EST.
