GAME 5 PREVIEW: It's all on the line for Blue Jackets, Maple Leafs

(9) BLUE JACKETS at (8) MAPLE LEAFS

Game 5; Best-of-five series is tied 2-2

Sunday, 8 p.m. ET, Scotiabank Arena, Toronto (FOX Sports Ohio, NBCSN, CBJ app, FOX Sports app, 97.1 The Fan)

Before the NHL restart began, just about everyone agreed the best-of-five matchup between Columbus and Toronto had the potential to be the best of the league's Stanley Cup Playoffs qualifying series.

In that vein, it certainly has not disappointed.

The only series of the eight to go the full five games has had a little bit of everything, and it's been a series of mirror images. The Blue Jackets won Game 1 via shutout only to see the Maple Leafs blank them in Game 2. Columbus then posted a three-goal comeback to win Game 3 by a 4-3 score only to see Toronto do the same in Game 4.

(In fact, history was made -- Toronto became the first team in NHL history to overcome a deficit to three-plus goals to win a game after surrendering a lead of three-plus goals to lose its previous contest. And we do mean ever -- that stat includes both regular season or postseason. Wild, right?)

In fact, if you've been a neutral, it's been a fantastically entertaining battle, one that has built to a crescendo with Sunday night's do-or-die Game 5.

"It's a tight series," Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said Saturday. "We've seen two pretty good comebacks in the last two games. It's great series in my opinion. It's a battle. We're just going to have to get ready for Sunday because it's gonna be another one there."

Of course, if you're reading this story on BlueJackets.com -- or, honestly, if you're Kekalainen -- you're probably not a neutral. You probably have a vested interest in seeing Columbus battle back from the heartbreaking Game 4 ending and earning the win to move on to rematch Tampa Bay in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

So how do the Blue Jackets do that? As the entire series has been about, it's going to be fascinating to see which team finds its game quickest. While Toronto will want a run-and-gun game, the Blue Jackets will look to play tight defensively and then either grind the Maple Leafs down through forechecking or create scoring opportunities in transition off turnovers.

But let's also be honest -- the battle between the ears will be as important as any strategic points. In playoff hockey, that's often the case, but it's especially true after the Blue Jackets saw their chance to advance evaporate by giving up three late goals in Game 4.

"We can't live in the past," CBJ captain Nick Foligno said. "It's all about how we respond in the moments coming up to this game tomorrow and having the conversation flipped here."

The series has delivered to this point. Will it get the ending it deserves, and will it be the one Blue Jackets fans desire? Foligno said he can't wait to find out.

"May the best team win," he said. "That's the only opportunity we want to put ourselves in. It's obviously disappointing we didn't get the job done (in Game 4), but the reason why we won two games ago was to give ourselves two cracks at it and make sure we make good on it."

Know the Foe

Well, there's not much mystery between the two teams at this point given they played four games in a six-day span to kick off the series.

Coming into the series, the focus was on the Maple Leafs' powerful offense, which scored well over three goals per game this year in the regular season to place third in the NHL. But until the Maple Leafs' late flurry that won Game 4, the team had just six goals in the series.

They still have just 10 for an average of 2.5 per game, and six of those -- two apiece -- belong to big guns Auston Matthews, Wiliam Nylander and John Tavares. Matthews leads the team to this point with six points, while Nylander has a 2-2-4 line and Mitchell Marner joins him with four assists.

Those four will likely have some confidence after the way Game 4 ended, and not allowing the Leafs to ride that wave early in the deciding contest will be one of the most important tasks for Columbus.

"It was a huge boost for us, it gives us great positive momentum," head coach Sheldon Keefe said of the Game 4 comeback. "The feeling after the game was tremendous. The amount of joy that I saw from our team is beyond anything I've seen from us.

"We have to bring that momentum forward here but recognize that it's a new game. We have to have a better start than we did (in Game 4) and we have to recognize that the opposition is going to reset themselves and both teams are going to leave it all out there tomorrow."

Toronto's defense was thought to be a weakness coming into the series, but the Leafs have ceded just nine goals to Columbus thus far, though the Jackets do have seven over the past two games. Goalie Frederik Andersen has been solid throughout the series, posting a 1.79 GAA and .941 save percentage.

3 Keys to the Game

Score first: After the way Game 4 ended, the Blue Jackets need a strong start to Game 5. Getting the first goal would help set the tone and add some confidence to Columbus' game.

Get the forecheck going: Columbus did a tremendous job of this through much of Game 4, stifling the Maple Leafs before they get going. Much of the Blue Jackets' offense is created off of it as well.

Big players make big plays: In the biggest moments, Columbus will need its best from its standouts. Could this be the game when regular-season leading goal scorer Oliver Bjorkstrand will make his mark after being kept off the scoreboard all series?

Of Note

This is the first winner-take-all postseason game in franchise history. … Pierre-Luc Dubois (3-1-4), David Savard (0-3-3) and Alexandre Texier (0-2-2) are in the midst of two-game point streaks. … CBJ goaltenders Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo each have earned the first wins of their postseason careers in this series. Merzlikins' shutout streak of 105:38 between Games 3 and 4 in the series is the longest in CBJ playoff history, while Korpisalo had a shutout streak of 96:00 through Games 1 and 2. ... This is the first-ever postseason series between the teams. … Both teams' NHL restart rosters have an average age of 26.1 years old, third youngest in the league, and both teams had 81 points in 70 regular season games.

Projected Lineup

(Subject to change)

Alexandre Texier - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson

Gus Nyquist - Boone Jenner - Nick Foligno

Liam Foudy - Riley Nash - Oliver Bjorkstrand

Eric Robinson - Alex Wennberg - Nathan Gerbe

Zach Werenski - Seth Jones

Vladislav Gavrikov - David Savard

Ryan Murray - Dean Kukan

Joonas Korpisalo

Matiss Kivlenieks

Scratches: Josh Anderson (injury), Emil Bemstrom, Stefan Matteau, Devin Shore, Kevin Stenlund, Gabriel Carlsson, Adam Clendening, Scott Harrington, Markus Nutivaara, Andrew Peeke, Elvis Merzlikins (unfit to play)

Roster Report: Head coach John Tortorella confirmed Sunday afternoon that defensemen Werenski and Murray would be in the lineup for Game 5, while Korpisalo will get the start in net. Merzlikins did not take part in the morning skate and will not dress.