Toronto Maple Leafs Will Try to Replicate Near-Perfect Performance

The Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 3 of their play-in series on Thursday night.  The team is hoping to keep the momentum going after a dominant Game 2 victory.

Game 2 saw the Toronto Maple Leafs take the play to Columbus and obliterate some of the narratives surrounding them.

John Tavares led the team all afternoon and looked like the Captain of a strong playoff team.  Auston Matthews broke the tension of nearly five scoreless periods, and the game never seemed in doubt after that.

The end to end win was certainly dampened late in the third period when Jake Muzzin had to leave on a stretcher, after losing feeling in his extremities following a cross-check from Pierre-Luc Dubois and a freak accident landing.

Game Three Preview – Toronto Maple Leafs “at” Columbus Blue Jackets

The third game of this qualifier series goes at 8 PM EST Thursday, and Columbus is technically the home team.  They will get the last change, which Head Coach John Tortorella will try to take advantage of.

Top forwards need to keep the pressure on Columbus.

Captain John Tavares was very quiet in Game 1 but was as loud as any player in the second game.  Tavares put the team on his back and was always around the net, creating chances.  Per Natural Stat Trick, JT led the team with eight shots on goal, with a whopping seven high danger scoring chances.

Auston Matthews broke the tension with a slick tip-in goal to open the scoring.  Up to that point, the Leafs had not been rewarded for their many chances, and it looked like Joonas Korpisalo might steal the game.

My level of stress was somewhere between high and extreme.  With one goal, a collective sigh of relief was felt throughout the Six.

Heading into Game Three, the Maple Leafs’ brightest stars will need to continue to shine.  They proved that when they are on their game, Columbus cannot stop them for 60 minutes.

Keep up the physical play and tight defense.

Kyle Clifford set the tone early in Game 2 that the Leafs were not going to be pushed around again, walloping Dean Kukan in the corner and sending him to the quiet room.  The defense played demonstrably better than the Game 1 debacle.

Without Muzzin, the already thin blue line is going to have to have some players step up.  Martin Marincin or Rasmus Sandin will draw into the lineup Thursday night to try to replace Muzzin.  This is a big deal, as Jake is their best shutdown man.

It will take a team effort on the back end, but they do not have to be perfect.  The Leafs need to contain the odd-man rushes and breakaways that plagued them in the opener.

In allowing just 20 shots on Tuesday, the Leafs setup goaltender Frederik Andersen for success.  More of that in Game 3 will go along way to getting the Leafs ahead in the series.

Freddie is on fire in the crease.

Frederik Andersen would have zero blemishes through two games if not for a weak goal allowed in Game 1 to Cam Atkinson. He has been brilliant at times in the series, and it never really felt like he was going to let a goal in during Game 2.

His continued dominance opens up a world of opportunity for the Toronto Maple Leafs to not only win this series but also make a deep run.

While Columbus does not exactly possess a potent offense, Freddie is the key making up for a below-average Leafs defense (to put it kindly).

My Game 3 Prediction: Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Columbus Blue Jackets 1 – Mitch Marner will get on the scoresheet with a couple of points, and John Tavares scores again.