Toronto Maple Leafs at Columbus Blue Jackets

· National Hockey League

Toronto Maple Leafs

5-4-2

Final
6 - 2

Columbus Blue Jackets

3-5-0

Matthews reaches 700 games, scores to help the Maple Leafs beat the Blue Jackets 6-2

Marshall Rifai tallies goal vs. Blue Jackets

Easton Cowan and Jack Roslovic each had a goal and two assists, William Nylander had a goal and an assist, and Morgan Rielly added three assists. Kirill Marchenko and Marshall Rifai also scored, and Anthony Stolarz stopped 33 shots for the Maple Leafs.

Jake Christiansen and Charlie Coyle scored for the Blue Jackets. They have been outscored 15-3 in the second period through eight games and lost for the fourth time in five games.

Jet Greaves stopped 14 shots before being pulled in the second period after allowing his fifth goal. Cam Talbot stopped two of the three shots he faced in relief.

Christiansen’s first goal of the season at 2:38 of the first period gave Columbus the early lead. Marchenko, who faced unrelenting boos in his first visit since being traded by Columbus, pulled Toronto even with a power-play goal at 8:16.

Kent Johnson appeared to put Columbus ahead with a one-timer, but the goal was waved off because time had expired.

The second period was all Toronto, starting with goals 46 seconds apart from Nylander and Matthews, who has 16 goals and 27 points in 21 career games against the Blue Jackets. Colton Sissons’ assist on Nylander's goal extended his points streak to four games.

Cowan’s short-handed goal gave the Maple Leafs a three-goal lead at 6:48 before Roslovic made it 5-1 and chased Greaves from the net at 12:03.

Coyle scored his first goal of the season off the backhand at 4:13 of the third period to make it 5-2 before Rifai extended Toronto's lead with 3:02 to go.

Up next Maple Leafs: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Blue Jackets: Host Vegas on Saturday.

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Regular Season Series

TOR leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal	1st Period 2:38	Jake Christiansen Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Dmitri Voronkov (2), Valeri Nichushkin (3)
Goal	1st Period 8:16	Kirill Marchenko Goal (5) Deflected, assists: Auston Matthews (10), William Nylander (9)
Goal	2nd Period 2:26	William Nylander Goal (6) Wrist Shot, assists: Morgan Rielly (5), Colton Sissons (3)
Goal	2nd Period 3:12	Auston Matthews Goal (8) Snap Shot, assists: Jack Roslovic (4), Easton Cowan (5)
Goal	2nd Period 6:48	Easton Cowan Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (1)
Goal	2nd Period 12:03	Jack Roslovic Goal (4) Tip-In, assists: Morgan Rielly (6), Easton Cowan (6)
Goal	3rd Period 4:13	Charlie Coyle Goal (1) Backhand, assists: Cole Sillinger (3), Emil Andrae (2)
Goal	3rd Period 16:58	Marshall Rifai Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Morgan Rielly (7), Jack Roslovic (5)

Statistics

TOR		CBJ
15	Blocked Shots	5
14	Hits	31
3	Takeaways	4
22	Shots	38
1	Power Play Goals	0
5	Power Play Opportunities	6
20.0	Power Play Percentage	0.0
1	Short Handed Goals	0
0	Shootout Goals	0
30	Faceoffs Won	27
52.6	Faceoff Win Percent	47.4
18	Giveaways	12
8	Total Penalties	5
27	Penalty Minutes	15

Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

NAME, POS	STATUS	DATE

Toronto Maple Leafs Injuries

NAME, POS	STATUS	DATE
Kirill Marchenko, RW	Day-To-Day	Oct 27
Nick Blankenburg, D	Injured Reserve	Oct 23
Marshall Rifai, D	Injured Reserve	Oct 22
John Tavares, C	Injured Reserve	Oct 17
Dakota Joshua, C	Injured Reserve	Oct 17