Patrik Laine scored his second goal of the game 20 seconds into overtime to lift Columbus to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, the Blue Jackets’ third straight win.
Adam Boqvist and Brendan Gaunce also scored for Columbus, while Jean-Francois Berube stopped 39 shots and recorded his first NHL assist in his second straight win. The Blue Jackets have won eight of their last 10 games.
“They believe they can win and that goes a long way,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “There is not a magic formula. They are good players and they are dangerous.”
Bunting put Toronto on the board at 12:50 of the first period, tapping in a feed from Mitch Marner after a Columbus turnover.
Laine pulled Columbus even and extended his points streak to 10 games with a wrister off a drop pass from Boone Jenner that beat Campbell at 6:13 of the second.
WATCH | Laine OT winner lifts Blue Jackets past Leafs:
Patrik Laine scored just 20 seconds into the extra frame to beat the Maple Leafs. 2:03
“Right now there is a feeling we are going to get another chance, and there is a good chance it might go in,” Laine said.
Matthews gave Toronto the lead again at 15:23 with his team-leading 34th goal and 61st point of the season, off a feed from David Kampf that caught a reaching Berube looking.
“We’re leaving the rink a little bit sour, but I thought we did a lot of good things tonight,” Matthews said.
Gaunce then grabbed a blueline turnover and raced the length of the ice to score for the second straight game and make it 3-2 at 7:13 of the third.
Spezza tied the game 3-3 with 2:06 remaining and Toronto with an extra skater.
“I thought our guys competed hard, played with structure,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “[We] easily could have had two points here.”