Maple Leafs 6, Blue Jackets 3
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- All the Toronto Maple Leafs needed, it seems, was to play the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Maple Leafs, losers of their first three games, gained strength as Friday's game progressed, and went on to a 6-3 win at Nationwide Arena, earning their first victory of the season.
The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, are the NHL's only 0-5-0 club.
Center Leo Komarov scored two goals, while defenseman Jake Gardiner, left winger James Van Riemsdyk, center Nazem Kadri and right winger Joffrey Lupul also for the Maple Leafs. The win was the first for the Maple Leafs under new coach Mike Babcock.
Goaltender James Reimer had 23 saves for the Leafs, earning his first win in four career decisions against the Blue Jackets.
Left winger Boone Jenner, right winger Nick Foligno and left winger Scott Hartnell scored for the Blue Jackets, off to the worst start in franchise history.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, a surprise starter after playing so poorly in the first four games, was poor again for Columbus. He finished with 28 saves.
The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead at 3:47 of the first period, when right winger Cam Atkinson's off-balance wrist shot from the blue line deflected off Jenner in front of the net and shot past Reimer.
The joy was short-lived, however.
The Maple Leafs gradually took control of the pace of play toward the end of the first, and they took control of the scoreboard in the second.
Only 29 seconds into the second, Gardiner scored on a slap shot from the slot that beat Bobrovsky to his glove side to tie the score at 1.
At 7:34 of the second, the Leafs took a 2-1 lead after the Blue Jackets had the type of major breakdown in their defensive zone that has plagued them during this horrible start.
Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson inexplicably passed the puck from the corner to the middle of the ice, beginning a sequence that ended when Van Riemsdyk jamming home a rebound under Bobrovsky's left pad.
Only 78 seconds later, it was 3-1 when Kadri scored through traffic on wrister.
The Blue Jackets responded with goals late in the second and early in the third to pull even.
With 1:58 left in the second, Foligno gathered a deflected puck off the end boards, made a nifty move in front of Reimer and scored his first goal of the season.
Only 59 seconds into the third, Hartnell one-timed a feed from center Ryan Johansen on the power play to make it 3-3.
The Leafs regained the lead at 4:00 of the third, a goal Bobrovsky would probably like back.
Lupul gathered a rebound in front and turned toward the net as he skated away from it. Bobrovsky inched toward him and opened his legs, allowing Lupul to slide between his pads for the go-ahead goal.
The Leafs pushed the lead to 5-3 with 4:09 to play. Komarov slipped a check by Jenner and earned a clean look on Bobrovsky, firing a puck that trickled through his five-hole and into the net.
Komarov scored into an empty net with 1:00 remaining to cap the scoring.
NOTES: LW Scott Hartnell had a goal and an assist, giving him 600 points (280 goals, 320 assists) in his NHL career. ... There is a growing sense in Columbus that if the Blue Jackets don't turn around quickly, coach Todd Richards might not survive. Richards' teams started very slow and finished very strong in each three seasons, but only made the playoff once (2013-14). ... Saturday is the day the Maple Leafs have had circled on the calendar since the NHL schedule was released this summer. The Leafs play in Pittsburgh, facing former RW Phil Kessel, who was traded to the Penguins during the offseason. ... Blue Jackets RW David Clarkson was activated from the injured list and made his season debut against his former club. Clarkson, with a $5.25 million salary cap hit, might be the NHL's highest-paid fourth liner.