NHL: Columbus eludes five goals but survives Toronto with 6-5 overtime win

The Blue Jackets are the team that has squandered the most leads this season and this unfortunate trend almost cost them a win in Toronto again.

The Maple Leafs scored five unanswered goals in the third period to force overtime, but Kent Johnson saved the game for Columbus, who eventually won 6-5.

Auston Matthews scored twice in a span of 30 seconds with 1:15 left in regulation to force overtime and blow out Scotiabank Arena. Matthews has nine goals and five assists in his last seven games.

The Jackets are out of sorts after a streak of nine games in 15 days, including three in four days, last Sunday. They came back seemingly fully refreshed after a three-day rest and took a 5-0 lead thanks to goals from Patrik Laine, Kent Johnson, Justin Danforth, Yegor Chenakhov and Johnny Gaudreau.

However, Ilya Samsonov stayed put in front of the net after that and didn’t let anything get away, making some great saves including in extra time from a counter-attack. However, he surrendered to Johnson’s second goal in the match, conceding defeat.

William Nylander first spoiled Elvis Merzlikins’ shutout just 38 seconds into the third period in an attempt to wake up the Leafs.

Mitch Marner followed up by cutting the deficit to 5-2, scoring eight of his eleven goals of the season on Thursday.

Jake McCabe set about giving the visitors a cold sweat by also hitting the target, and Matthews then leveled the score by scoring in quick succession.

Merzlikins returned to his cage after missing the last three matches due to illness. He faced 48 bullets.

Columbus played without Erik Gudbranson, who was serving a one-game suspension for being the aggressor in an altercation with Florida Panthers forward Nick Cousins ​​over the weekend.

Lin did not finish the game due to an upper body injury resulting from contact with defenseman William Lagesson. In the opposing clan, Ryan Reeves also had to leave the event due to a lower body injury he suffered midway through the first round.

The Flyers have the final say on the Caps in the shootout

Bobby Brink scored the winning goal in the third round of a shootout as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3.

Brink also scored in regular time. Sean Couturier also scored in the shootout, before the Capitals’ TJ O’Shea succeeded.

The Flyers earned their fifth win in six games.

Owen Tippett and Joel Farabee scored their other goals in normal time.

Dylan Strome, Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael provided the Capitals’ response in regulation time.

In overtime, Charlie Lindgren, of the Capitals, made a good stop on Cam Atkinson, on a breakaway.

Brink gave his team a 1-0 lead at the start of the second half.

The Flyers were 14-1-0 when he scored the first goal of the game.

Staal makes the difference against the Red Wings

Jordan Staal opened the scoring midway through the second period, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

Jack Drury also scored and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 25 shots.

Carolina finished a six-game road trip with two straight wins after four straight losses.

Michael Rasmussen scored his 100th NHL point as the Wings’ leading scorer.

Phil Huso made 36 saves for the Red Wings, who have lost four of their last five games.

The club was without its two best centers, Dylan Larkin and JT Compher, due to injuries.

David Perron was serving the third game of a six-game suspension for a double check against Artem Zub of the Ottawa Senators.