Pierre-Luc Dubois got his third goal of the game 18:24 into overtime, finishing the Columbus Blue Jackets' comeback from three goals down to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Thursday night and take a 2-1 lead in their playoff qualifying series.
The Blue Jackets can advance in the playoffs with a win in game four, which will be played Friday night at 8 p.m.
Joonas Korpisalo gave up three Toronto goals on 15 shots before he was chased in the second period with the Jackets down 3-0. Elvis Merzlikins stopped all 21 shots he faced to put the Blue Jackets from advancing to the traditional 16-team first round.
Soon after the goalie switch, Dubois scored the first of his three goals on a power play just over halfway through the second period. Dubois became the first Blue Jackets player to record a hat trick in a playoff game.
The comeback marked the first time Columbus had rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs to win the game.
Defenseman Seth Jones, who scored the Blue Jackets' other goal, said the team continued to fight despite the big deficit.
"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, third period. We found ourselves back into it. Overtime wasn't our best, but we found a way to stick together, play some solid defense, blocked some shots and luckily we got a chance and P-L didn't miss."
Cody Ceci, William Nylander and Nicholas Robertson scored for the Maple Leafs, and Frederik Anderson had 39 saves.
The series resumes with game four Friday at 8 p.m.
