LIVE BLOG: Maple Leafs, Blue Jackets tied 3-3 heading into last half of third period

We’re going to overtime, tied 3-3 and a one-game lead in the best-of-five series hanging in the balance.

Rookie Nick Robertson got his first NHL goal – screaming “yeah” when he did — and William Nylander scored on the power play as the Maple Leafs opened up a two-goal lead on Columbus after two periods.

Goals by Seth Jones and Pierre-Luc Dubois in the first half of the third period tied the game at 3-3. Jones scored through traffic at 7:27 and Dubois, with his second of the game, at 10:49 erased Toronto’s 3-1 lead.

Columbus changed goalies after Robertson’s one-timer went through Joonas Korpisalo’s five hole. Korpisalo had stonewalled the Leafs in Game 1, posting a shutout. And he was equally as good in Game 2, a Leafs 3-0 win.

But Columbus coach John Tortorella has faith in both goalies, and used his hook to bring in Elvis Merzlikins, seeing his first Stanley Cup playoff action.

Robertson scored at 8:40, a minute and 40 seconds after Nylander’s power play goal. It was the first power play goal by either team.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored on a one-timer to the side of Frederik Andersen at 11:39, eight seconds after a penalty to Tyson Barrie had expired.

And for the first time in the series, both teams have scored.

First period: Cody Ceci, who scored once in the regular season, gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead after the first period.

The series is tied at a game apiece.

It was a shorthanded goal, a slapshot that deflected off a Columbus defender to fool goalie Joonas Korpisalo.

It was the first special teams goal of any kind. Neither team has scored on the power play.With Travis Dermott off for interference, the play began with Frederik Andersen and Mitch Marner making saves as Columbus pressed for the opener.

Alex Kerfoot went on the rush but was alone. Kasperi Kapanen didn’t join him. It looked like both teams were going to change their lines. Columbus forwards did. But the Leafs didn’t. Kapanen rejoined the rush, as did Ceci, who was alone for the feed from Kerfoot.

THIS BLOG: Will update throughout the game. Check back regularly.

GOT A QUESTION? Email me at askkevinmcgran@gmail.com andI I’ll answer it in Friday’s Mailbag.

The suspense is over. Martin Marincin got the nod over Rasmus Sandin as the replacement for Jake Muzzin.

Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe played his cards close to his chest regarding his lineup for Thursday night’s Game 3 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

With folks wondering who would get the call on the Leafs third pair. Some wondered if both blueliners would dress, with an option of the the Leafs going with just 11 forwards.

But the fourth line, centred by Pierre Engvall, had a spirited Game 2, a 3-0 Toronto win.

Sandin, and for that matter Nic Petan, both took part in the pregame skate. But it was Marincin named to the roster.

The 28-year-old Marincin has six playoff games to his credit, all with Toronto from the 2016-17 season. He was a key defender for Keefe’s Marlies 2018 Calder Cup championship.

The Leafs are the visiting team for the game, meaning Blue Jackets coach Sheldon Keefe has last change.

Muzzin, who was injured toward the end of Game 2, will not play the remainder of this series. He remains under quarantine in his hotel room while recovering from what appeared to be a neck or head injury. He had to leave the hived-off bubble to be attended at hospital.

Winning room

To get ready for Game 3 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Maple Leafs will change in the room of the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors.

“That’s kind of cool, and unique, and we talked a bit about it,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. “There been lots of winning that has gone on in that room and hopefully we can get some of that to rub off on us.”

There are four regular change rooms and two rooms being adapted into change rooms to handle three games a day at the Scotiabank Arena.

In Game 1, the Leafs changed in their regular room, as the “home team” and top seed in their series.

For the 4 p.m. Game on Tuesday, the Leafs changed in the media room, which is closest to the Leafs room.

Now as the visiting team for Game 3, it’s the Raptors room, which happens to have very tall stalls.

“As for being the visiting team, I don’t think it makes that much of a difference, it makes for less thinking for us,” Keefe said after the morning skate. “We’ll get our guys out as they are rested and ready to go. That’s good for us. It helps our rhythm and our flow of our bench. We’ll get a better feel for what Columbus wants to do, but it’s not going to be much concern to us.”

Special teams

This playoff series is the only one without a power-play goal.

Here’s Keefe’s assessment:

“When the game ends and you’re 0-for-5 on the power play, you don’t feel great about it. You know you need to be able to cash in. Go back to the video and break it down; we liked a lot about the process. We thought we entered the zone really well, we spent a lot of time in their end, we had six very good scoring chances. So the process, we really liked. We think if we get some of those same types of looks, they will go in for us. As for why there hasn’t been a goal, I think the penalty kills have been good. And in Game 1, there wasn’t much opportunity for either team (two PPs for Columbus, one for Toronto). And in Game 2, the goaltending was outstanding.”

Roster talk

It could well be Martin Marincin Day. Or Rasmus Sandin Day. Or Both Day, if Keefe decides to go with seven defencemen and 11 forwards.

He said he’d reveal his decision tonight. So stay tuned for the pregame skate.

Marincin is no Jake Muzzin, but of the choices available to Keefe, he’s the closest possible match.

Marincin is a pretty good penalty killer — one of Muzzin’s primary roles — and away from the puck, Marincin is a decent defender in terms of blocking shots (at 1.42 per game, he’s 14th in the league) and getting in the way of opposition forwards.

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When the puck’s on his stick, his outlet pass completion rate is 74.7 per cent, 15th in the league.

He doesn’t win a lot of puck battles, rating 200th with a 27.4 per cent win rate in his own zone, according to Sportlogiq. (Muzzin wins nearly 35 per cent of puck battles, and was winning 75 per cent against Columbus.)

No question Sandin will go on to have a better career but he’s more in the Morgan Rielly/Tyson Barrie mold. Getting him some playing time and playoff experience is probably not a bad call, either, if the choice is seven defencemen.

Who would drop? My guess would be Pierre Engvall or Nick Robertson.

Calle Rosen and Timothy Liljegren are the other two Leaf defencemen on the roster, within the bubble. The Leafs were 12-8-6 with Marincin in the lineup. Marincin has far more experience, and is the better choice in the here and now.

Slot shot

John Tavares managed eight shots on net from the inner slot in Game 2. That’s more than Columbus has managed over two games, according to Sportlogiq. It’s also more than any player had at any point in the 2018-19 season. Evander Kane got to seven for the Sharks.

That’s also good news. It means Keefe is using Tavares the way Tavares wants to play.

Tavares played that way in his first year in Toronto, under Mike Babcock, and had his best season. He led the league with 139 shots and 32 goals from the inner slot. Inexplicably, Babcock moved Tavares — at least on the power play — to the high slot to start the year. Tavares wasn’t happy. Now Tavares is back in his office.

John Tavares Shot Heat Map

Jones vs. Matthews

Another battle going on is the one between Seth Jones and Auston Matthews. From a statistical point of view, Jones is winning. Matthews has managed one shot on net over two games with Jones on the ice in 5-on-5 situations. In the second game, Keefe did a better job of getting Matthews away from Jones. This is Game 3. John Tortorella has last change.

Game 1

11:02 at 5 on 5

Shots: 8-4 CBJ

Slot shots: 3-0 CBJ

No shots for Matthews

Game 2

6:30 at 5 on 5

Shots: 6-1 TOR

Slot shots: 1-0 TOR

1 shot for Matthews

Kudos to Leafs

Access to information has become an issue for the media working the Stanley Cup playoffs due to COVID-19 protocols, but the Leafs have done a very good job in providing updates the media would normally see for themselves. Like lineups, lines, and practice information.

I was quite impressed even with the amount of information relayed in the press release regarding Muzzin. Some teams would have simply said the player is “unfit to play.” That’s all the NHL requires. (It doesn’t want to announce if someone has COVID, so it lumps all injuries, ailments etc., into one Unfit to Play category.)

But the Muzzin thing is obviously not COVID. It’s game related. And given the novelty of the situation, Muzzin had to leave the bubble for hospital care. To the naysayers who didn’t want NHLers up here through COVID, I said all along the players have more to risk from those of us outside the bubble than we do of them inside it. This is a case-in-point.

So the Leafs rightfully informed us – above and beyond what the NHL asks — that Muzzin is back in the bubble, quarantining in his room after his night “out” as he recovers from his injury. They didn’t specify the injury.