Gaudreau scores in OT, lifts Blue Jackets past Maple Leafs

COLUMBUS -- Johnny Gaudreau scored at 2:56 of overtime, and the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 at Nationwide Arena on Friday.

Gaudreau, who also had two assists, took a pass from Damon Severson in front, shifted the puck to his backhand around Ilya Samsonov and put it into an open net to give the Blue Jackets their first win in four games (0-1-2).

“[Severson] found me wide open in front and I just kind of tapped it in the net,” Gaudreau said. “We’ve got to build off this.”

Adam Fantilli forced overtime for Columbus by tying it 5-5 with 6:14 left in the third period.

Elvis Merzlikins made 12 saves on 14 shots for the Blue Jackets (12-18-7) before leaving after the first period because of an illness. Spencer Martin made 16 saves, and Severson had two assists.

“We got better as the game went on,” Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said. “I thought in the third we were playing our style and [with the] intensity we need. In the third we were a good team … I liked the way we bounced back.

“I keep telling them we're improving. At some point you need some results against a good team.”

Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner and William Nylander each had a goal and an assist, and Samsonov made 15 saves for the Maple Leafs (17-9-7). Morgan Rielly had three assists.

“Play that game over 100 times, we probably win it 99 times,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said, “But you can’t make those kinds of mistakes with the goaltending ‘Sammy’s’ going through right now. We’ve got to support him better if we want to win the game.”

The teams played for the third time since Dec. 14, when Columbus won 6-5 in overtime in Toronto. The Maple Leafs won 4-1 on the road Dec. 23.

“After we scored to make it 3-1, too much [was] coming back our way, just a little too much high-risk stuff,” Matthews said. “They’ve got some pretty good players. We’ve seen them two, three, times now the past two weeks, so we’re pretty familiar with how they play and like to transition the puck.”

Marner put the Maple Leafs ahead 1-0 at 4:14 of the first period with a tip in at the right post off a cross-crease pass from Rielly.

Cole Sillinger tied it 1-1 at 11:17 with a wrist shot from the slot.

Matthews gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead at 12:55 with a wrist shot from the right circle. He has nine points (six goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak.

Nicholas Robertson extended the lead to 3-1 at 1:35 of the second period, redirecting a one-timer by Timothy Liljegren from the slot.

Brendan Gaunce cut it to 3-2 at 3:20 with his first goal of the season, a snap shot from in front that hit Samsonov’s pad and looped over his right shoulder into the net.

Nylander scored a power-play goal from a tight angle below the right circle at 9:42 to make it 4-2. He extended his point streak to 13 games (21 points; five goals, 16 assists).

The Blue Jackets pulled within 4-3 at 11:05 on a 4-on-3 power play when Dmitri Voronkov redirected Gaudreau’s wrist shot from the slot past Samsonov.

Kent Johnson tied it 4-4 at 12:43, shifting the puck to his backhand and lifting it over Samsonov’s glove from the top of the crease.

John Tavares tipped in a Nylander shot on the power play to make it 5-4 at 19:05.

Fantilli picked up the puck in the Blue Jackets’ defensive zone, skated up the ice and beat Samsonov from the left circle to tie it 5-5 at 13:46 of the third.

“It felt great,” Fantilli said. “I know we have it in this locker room. It felt amazing to see one go our way.”

NOTES: Matthews scored his 15th goal of December to become the third Toronto player to reach that mark in a single month, joining Rick Vaive (17, January 1983), Frank Mahovlich (15, December 1960) and Babe Dye (15, February 1921). … Fantilli scored his 10th goal of the season, joining Connor Bedard (15) and Marco Rossi (11) as the only three rookies with at least 10. … Rielly had his 11th career three-assist game; only Borje Salming (29) and Tomas Kaberle (12) have more in Maple Leafs history. … Toronto defenseman Mark Giordano played 14:49 and had one blocked shot after missing 12 games with a broken finger. … Blue Jackets forward Jack Roslovic returned after missing 21 games due to a fractured ankle; he was 0-for-2 on face-offs in 16:00.