Maple Leafs 5, Blue Jackets 2
James van Riemsdyk scored twice and added an assist as host Toronto used a four-goal first period to upend Columbus.
Phil Kessel, Tyler Bozak and Daniel Winnik each added a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who earned Peter Horachek his first win as interim head coach. Jonathan Bernier stopped 18 shots as Toronto prevailed for just the third time in 11 games.
Ryan Johansen scored twice - extending his goal streak to five games and his point run to nine - for the Blue Jackets, who fell in regulation for just the third time in their last 16 contests (12-3-1). Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves in defeat after signing a four-year, $29.7 million deal prior to the game.
Johansen kicked off the scoring in style, breaking in alone after forcing a Toronto turnover at center ice and firing a high wrist shot past Bernier at 3:15. Bozak evened things at 8:30 as his centering pass caromed off the skate of Columbus defenseman Cody Goloubef and past Bobrovsky, and Winnik gave Toronto the lead with 5:28 remaining in the period by converting a Bozak feed from behind the red line.
Kessel made it a 3-1 game nearly two minutes later as he tapped home a puck in the crease during a 5-on-3 advantage, and van Riemsdyk added to the onslaught 52 seconds after that with a wrist shot just inside the left post. Johansen struck again on a power-play 3:43 into the second period with a well-placed snap shot from just inside the left circle, but Columbus didn't muster much else and van Riemsdyk put the game away with an empty-net goal.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Linesman Dean Morton landed hard on his back after being run into by Maple Leafs F David Clarkson early in the first period. He was helped off the ice and didn't return. ... Toronto held Columbus to 20 shots, the second-fewest it has allowed this season. ... Van Riemsdyk had eight shots and Kessel added seven for the Maple Leafs.