Atkinson scores in sixth straight game, Blue Jackets top Maple Leafs

COLUMBUS -- Cam Atkinson extended his goal streak to six games, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 at Nationwide Arena on Friday.

Atkinson's shorthanded goal at 16:14 of the second period gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead. He took a pass from Alex Wennberg, dragged the puck around John Tavares and snapped a shot from between the circles.
"It was a big goal," Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson said. "You could see Cam was feeling it a little bit tonight coming down there shorthanded."
WATCH: [All Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets]
Atkinson, who has eight goals in the streak, is tied with Rick Nash for the second-longest in Blue Jackets history behind the seven-game streak of Geoff Sanderson in 2002-03.

Anderson had two goals, Markus Hannikainen scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves for the Blue Jackets (13-7-2), who have won four of five.
The Maple Leafs rallied from two goals down in the first period Monday to defeat the Predators 4-2 in Toronto.
"When you look at the series it probably ended the way it should have," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "They probably should have won in our building, we should have won here. That's the way it goes."
Ron Hainsey and Kasperi Kapanen scored for the Maple Leafs (15-8-0), who have lost two straight. Frederik Andersen made 20 saves.
"It is the definition of finding a way to win," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "I thought we fought the puck all night long. We played well in the third. We didn't get frustrated. We stayed with it."
Anderson gave Columbus a 1-0 lead on its first shot at 3:55 of the first period. His ninth goal came from a rebound of Boone Jenner's shot.

Nick Foligno kept the puck in the zone and passed to Jenner for the shot from the high slot, leaving the Maple Leafs scrambling and Anderson alone in front.
Anderson made it 2-0 at 9:57 on another rebound.
He started the sequence by poking the puck from Andersen behind the net. Anderson got the puck to Scott Harrington, who passed in front to Lukas Sedlak. Andersen made a diving stop, but Anderson batted in the rebound.
"I misread that one," Andersen said. "I thought it was going to come over quicker. It didn't. It happens sometimes."
Hainsey's third goal made it 2-1 at 16:16. He credited forward Connor Brown for his screen to allow the shot to get through from the left point.

"That's all [Brown] getting in front, taking [Bobrovsky's] eyes away," Hainsey said. "There's no goal without his presence there. For the D, when you're out that far it's all about the forwards."
Kapanen handcuffed Bobrovsky off the rush for his 10th goal, second in as many games, at 2:58 of the second period to make it 2-2.
After Atkinson gave Columbus the lead, Hannikainen made it 4-2 at 3:35 of the third, poking in the puck off a scramble for his second goal.

They said it

"That might be as good a road game as we've played in a while, to be honest with you." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock
"I'm sure they learned from their mistakes from last time. We played a good game. A few mistakes cost us." -- Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen after splitting two games with the Blue Jackets this week
"It was an ugly game at times for both teams. [We were] able to stick with it and get the two points and really shut them down in the third period. Playing well defensively is something we pride ourselves on." -- Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington

Need to know

Atkinson's streak of four multipoint games ended one short of the Columbus record set by Artemi Panarin March 27-April 5, 2018. … The first penalty went to Tavares for tripping Panarin at 4:50 of the second period. There were no penalties in their game Monday. … Panarin has five assists in the past three games and eight in the past seven. He was originally credited with the fourth goal that went to Hannikainen because both took whacks at the loose puck. Panarin has gone 11 games without a goal. … Maple Leafs defenseman Igor Ozhiganov had an assist for his first NHL point in his 19th game.

What's next

Maple Leafs:Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SN1, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; ATTSN-PT, FS-O, NHL.TV)