Maple Leafs pad North Division lead with win against Jets

WINNIPEG-- The Toronto Maple Leafs scored two goals in the opening 1:18 and held on for a 5-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place on Thursday.

Auston Matthews scored his 34th goal with two assists, Mitchell Marner scored two goals with an assist, and Nick Foligno had an assist in his debut with the Maple Leafs (29-13-5), who had lost five in a row. Jack Campbell made 34 saves, including 14 in the third period.
"They came out and kind of threw everything at us," Campbell said of the third period. "Tonight, I just battled and I thought the guy's battled in front of me. ... That's a huge win against a really good team."

Mark Scheifele and Andrew Copp each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (27-16-3), who lost a second straight in regulation for the second time this season. Laurent Brossoit made 25 saves in relief of Connor Hellebuyck, who allowed three goals on six shots in through 11:59 of the first period.
"Definitely not the start we wanted, but we kept on clawing back and tried to get some chances," Scheifele said. "We fought right to the end and made it a close one. It would have been nice to get that one into overtime."
Toronto extended its lead to six points over second-place Winnipeg in the seven-team Scotia North Division having played one more game. They play again here Saturday.
"We needed to get a win here today. No matter who we were playing we needed to get back on the right side of it," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We had to turn the light bulbs on there for the third period and make sure we took care of this one.
"In terms of the standings and everything like that, we didn't talk about that a great deal. I think no matter who were playing today we knew we needed a good effort and I think that we did that here today, but a lot of things we could do better, and we're certainly going to have to do that on Saturday."
Matthews scored his NHL-leading 34th goal 27 seconds into the first period, and Wayne Simmonds scored at 1:18 to give the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead.
Scheifele cut it to 2-1 at 3:19, and Copp tied it 2-2 at 10:26.
"It's 2-2. They didn't run all over us," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "Certainly we weren't better than they were, but I don't know how much better they were than us. It was 2-2 early enough in that game."

Toronto took a 3-2 lead when Jason Spezza scored at 11:59. Hellebuyck was pulled after the goal.
Marner gave the Maple Leafs a 4-2 lead at 12:58 of the second period.
Kyle Connor scored to make it 4-3 at 17:56.
"I think we were chasing the game," Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. "We hadn't played a game in four days. It's tough to do, just to come out and pick right up where you left off. So it took us a period to get into it. I thought the back half of the game we played a pretty good game, but unfortunately it was just too far out of reach for us."
Marner scored into an empty net, with Foligno getting an assist, at 19:54 of the third period for the 5-3 final.
Foligno served a mandatory COVID-19 quarantine after he was traded to Toronto by the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 11.
"Nice to get that one under my belt," Foligno said. "Just thrilled for the guys to get a win, especially coming in the lineup and being able to celebrate with them. That was a big one for us."
NOTES: Jets forward Adam Lowry did not return for the second period after taking a hit to the head in the first period. Maurice did not have an update. ... Scheifele got his 300th NHL assist in his 565th game and has scored 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists) in 22 games against the Maple Leafs. ... Wheeler returned with an assist and three hits in 19:43 of ice time after missing six games with a concussion. ... Defenseman Jordie Benn had one shot on goal and was minus-2 in 11:30 of ice time in his Jets debut after being traded by the Vancouver Canucks. ... Matthews also leads the NHL in even-strength goals (24) and first goal of the game (nine).