Nylander gets 3 points, Maple Leafs edge Flames

CALGARY -- William Nylander had a goal and two assists, and the Toronto Maple Leafs held on to defeat the Calgary Flames 4-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday.

“I thought that our line was playing really well, generating a lot of chances, so I just wanted to build off of that,” said Nylander, crediting his linemates Matias Maccelli and John Tavares.

Maccelli, Troy Stecher and Bobby McMann also scored for the Maple Leafs (26-21-9), who have won two games in a row after losing their previous six (0-5-1). Joseph Woll made 28 saves.

“He had to make some diving saves and second- and third-effort saves with some of these bounces that went on,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said of Woll. “He was solid tonight for us.”

Nazem Kadri and Joel Farabee each had a goal and an assist for the Flames (22-27-6), who have lost six of their past seven games (1-4-2). Dustin Wolf made 18 saves.

“[We were] pretty close to tying the game on several occasions,” Kadri said. “I think we deserved a little better, but at the end of the day, you have to find a way to make a play.

“I think we did just about everything we could to get back into that game. I honestly thought our start was great, too. Obviously, they score on the first shift, but besides that I really liked the first period. We had a little lapse in the second, but all around I think it was definitely a winnable game for us.”

Nylander put the Maple Leafs ahead 1-0 just 35 seconds into the first period, skating in on a breakaway and snapping a shot from the high slot under Wolf’s glove. Tavares started the play by knocking down a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau in the defensive zone.

“It was a great play by John,” Nylander said. “He was able to spring me there, so obviously it was nice for our team. We had been playing from behind a lot lately, so it was nice to get that one early.”

Maccelli made it 2-0 at 7:17 of the second period. Nylander stole the puck along the end boards from Flames forward Morgan Frost and sent a backhand feed out to Maccelli, who buried a one-timer from the right hash marks.

It was his first goal since Jan. 10 (12 games).

Stecher increased the lead to 3-0 at 9:10. He received a centering pass from Nylander in front, moved the puck to his backhand, and lifted a shot past Wolf, who was moving the other way.

“It was a great 4-on-4 goal, just the movement,” Berube said. “You get on a 4-on-4 and it’s man-on-man and he beat his man to the net, and ‘Willie’ made a great play to him. He made a nice move on the goalie to put it in, so you’re excited for him. He doesn’t score a lot (three goals this season), and it’s a big goal at that time.”

Kadri made it 3-1 at 13:15, taking a pass from Farabee down low in the right circle and roofing a shot short side over Woll’s left shoulder.

Farabee cut it to 3-2 at 15:46 when he chipped in a backdoor pass from Kadri at the right post.

“I think it would have been easy just to kind of ride it out and see how the game went, but we have a lot of guys that battle hard in this room and we have really good leaders that lead the way,” Farabee said. “There’s no quit ever in this locker room, and I’ve always appreciated that since I’ve come here.”

Woll stopped all 13 shots he faced in the third period, including diving to poke the puck away from Flames forward Adam Klapka after he got caught out of position behind his net.

“I don’t even really know what happened,” Woll said. “It was dope. Thank God it didn’t go in.”

Woll also got his shoulder on a shot by Matt Coronato at 16:15 that hit the crossbar and bounced down before Toronto defenseman Philippe Myers cleared it out of the crease.

McMann then scored into an empty net at 19:35 for the 4-2 final

“We let them come at us too much late [in the game],” Berube said. “Our goalie was really good and guys competed. We blocked a lot of shots. We had to tonight.”

NOTES: The Maple Leafs have won eight straight games against the Flames, their longest active streak against a single opponent. … Nylander has 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) in 26 career games against the Flames. ... Woll is 5-0-0 in his career against the Flames.