Leafs top Blue Jackets 4-1
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Daniel Winnik and Phil Kessel each had a goal and two assists, and Jonathan Bernier made 28 saves to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs past the injury-riddled Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Friday night.
Nazem Kadri added a goal and an assist and David Clarkson also scored for the Maple Leafs, who are 3-0-1 on the road and 2-4-0 at home.
Kessel punched in a shot that went to video review before it was confirmed. Clarkson redirected a pass from Dion Phaneuf on the power play, and Kadri finished a 2-on-1 feed from Kessel in the third. Winnik scored his 50th NHL goal late in his 500th career game.
Cam Atkinson scored and Ryan Johansen had an assist to tie a Columbus record with his 10-game point streak to start the season. It was the fourth loss in a row for the Blue Jackets, who are without eight top players and lost forward Cory Tropp (illness) after the second period.
Curtis McElhenny filled in for starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who is out a week with a broken finger, and made 23 saves for the Blue Jackets. Johansen is the only NHL player with a point in each of the first 10 games, totaling five goals and eight assists.
Bernier lost his shutout midway through the third period when he stopped Johansen's drive from the right circle but lost track of the puck, which was underneath him. Atkinson chopped it into the net for his fifth goal.
The Maple Leafs scored the only goal of the opening period -- but it required a long, close look.
After a 10-minute review, Kessel was awarded the goal. He was at the left doorstep after shots by Winnik and Kadri were deflected by McElhenny. Kessel's shot off a rebound was deflected off the right skate of Columbus defenseman Fedor Tyutin, who had come in behind McElhenny during the flurry of shots. The review showed the puck briefly crossed the goal line before ricocheting out off Tyutin's blade.
A large contingent of Toronto fans in the crowd of 14,479 chanted "Let's go, Leafs!" several times during the game.
They had more to cheer in the second. Shortly after Columbus' Jack Johnson went off for interference, Phaneuf's drive from the point was redirected by Clarkson for his third of the season. Clarkson had his stick straight out at waist height and deflected Phaneuf's pass down and past a helpless McElhenny.
Kessel then carried the puck down the right wing early in the third, making a late feed behind the defenseman for a jam shot by Kadri.
The Blue Jackets have been hurt by a scourge of injuries. They were without eight players, including forwards Nathan Horton (back), Boone Jenner (broken hand), Brandon Dubinsky (abdominal surgery), Matt Calvert (upper body), Artem Anisimov (concussion), Mark Letestu (groin), goalie Bobrovsky and top offensive defenseman James Wisniewski (broken finger).
NOTES: Just before the game, the Maple Leafs posted on Twitter that LW Joffrey Lupul would be out indefinitely after breaking his right hand in a fall at Thursday's practice. ... D Jack Johnson also played in his 500th NHL game. ... Blue Jackets LW Nick Foligno, just back from missing one game after injuring his neck in a collision with an official, celebrated his 27th birthday. ... The Maple Leafs' James van Riemsdyk stayed down on the ice after Jared Boll rolled over his legs late in the second, then returned for the third.