Maple Leafs 4, Blue Jackets 1
Daniel Winnik led the way with a goal and two assists in his 500th career NHL game as visiting Toronto upended short-handed Columbus.
Phil Kessel scored as part of a three-point performance, Nazem Kadri added a goal and an assist and David Clarkson also tallied for the Maple Leafs, who have outscored the Sabres and Blue Jackets 8-1 in back-to-back victories. Jonathan Bernier turned aside 28 shots to preserve the win.
Cam Atkinson netted a power-play goal for Columbus, which is without eight regulars and looked overmatched for most of the night. Curtis McElhinney made 23 saves in his second straight start in place of Sergei Bobrovsky (broken finger).
Kessel opened the scoring with 4:32 remaining in the opening period, firing a shot from just off the right edge of the crease that snuck past McElhinney and barely crossed the line. Clarkson extended the advantage at 12:13 of the middle frame, as his redirection of captain Dion Phaneuf's point shot bounced off the ice and skipped past McElhinney.
Toronto took control at 2:38 of the third, as Kadri jousted a Kessel feed past McElhinney from the top of the crease to end a six-game goalless drought. Columbus finally broke through at 10:40 as Atkinson jabbed a loose puck between Bernier's pads, but the Toronto netminder kept the Blue Jackets at bay and Winnik iced things with 3:33 left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Columbus C Ryan Johansen assisted on Atkinson's goal to extend his point streak to 10 games, equaling the franchise record set by R.J. Umberger in 2010. ... Toronto announced prior to the game that F Joffrey Lupul suffered a broken hand during Thursday's practice and is out indefinitely. ... Winnik's goal was the 50th of his career.