Maple Leafs 6, Ducks 5 (OT)
TORONTO -- Nazem Kadri scored twice, including the overtime winner, as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Anaheim Ducks 6-5 at Air Canada Centre on Thursday.
After Toronto blew a 4-1 lead in a 9:23 span and fell behind by a goal, Connor Brown tied the game 5-5 with his first career NHL goal at 15:37 of the third period.
The Maple Leafs (27-35-11) improved to 8-0-1 against the Ducks in the teams' past nine meetings at Toronto. The Leafs are 5-1-0 in their past six games overall and 4-1-0 during a six-game homestand.
Brandon Pirri gave the Ducks a 5-4 lead at 8:17 of the final frame, but Anaheim could not hang on.
The Ducks (40-23-10) clinched a playoff berth thanks to getting a point for the overtime loss. Anaheim is headed to the postseason for the fourth consecutive season and the ninth time in 11 years.
Anaheim dropped to 1-1-1 on its current five-game Canadian road trip, which continues Saturday in Ottawa.
Tyler Bozak scored twice for the Leafs, who also got a goal from Frank Corrado. Kadri, Milan Michalek and Morgan Rielly contributed two assists apiece. Garret Sparks made 33 saves for his sixth career victory.
Jamie McGinn scored twice while Andrew Cogliano and Ryan Garbutt had the others for Anaheim. Shawn Horcoff and Pirri each had two assists, while Frederik Andersen stopped 20 shots in the loss.
With Toronto leading 4-1, McGinn and Cogliano scored nine seconds apart in the final minutes of the second period to pull Anaheim to within one.
McGinn made it a two-goal game, on a power play, beating a screened Sparks for his second of the night.
Cogliano scored his ninth of the season at 19:04 of the second, putting home his own rebound.
Garbutt tied it 4-4, short-handed at 5:39 of the third, by outmuscling Jake Gardiner for a loose puck and beating Sparks with a backhander.
NOTES: C Ryan Kesler (personal) and D Simon Despres (concussion symptoms) were sent home from the road trip by the Ducks. ... Anaheim recalled D Shea Theodore from the American Hockey League's San Diego Gulls on Wednesday. ... Leafs C Tyler Bozak returned to the lineup after missing 21 games because of a concussion. ... C Frederik Gauthier was reassigned to the AHL's Toronto Marlies on Wednesday. ... Ducks C Shawn Horcoff played in his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday. ... Ducks LW David Perron (shoulder) missed his second game because of injury.