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Three-goal first period lifts Maple Leafs

Feb 20, 2008 - 4:02 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo, Nik Antropov and Chad Kilger sparked a three-goal first period and Vesa Toskala stopped 26 shots to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Dominic Moore had two first-period assists for Toronto, which has won the first two games of a five-game homestand.

Colaiacovo opened the scoring just 5:41 into the first period when his blast from the point deflected off blue-liner Dick Tarnstrom's leg and into the net.

"I got a lucky bounce, I'll take it," Colaiacovo said.

Nearly 10 minutes later, Antropov scored his 21st goal of the season.

Antropov batted a puck out of the air just wide of the right post. Before goaltender Pascal Leclaire or the Blue Jackets defense could react, he was able to corral it from the side of the net and scored to give Toronto a 2-0 lead.

"Mats (Sundin) kind of hit it towards the net, it took a funny bounce so I just kind of knocked it in the air and put it in afterwards," Antropov said.

The two-goal advantage only lasted 30 seconds. Nikolai Zherdev one-timed a pass from former Maple Leaf Michael Peca into an open net with 4:17 remaining in the second.

"We've got to play more desperate, they got a couple of bounces there that seemed to end up in the back of our net and then we got one back and we've got to be a lot better to make sure to keep it 2-1," Columbus left wing Rick Nash said.

Kilger regained the two-goal edge 74 seconds later after gathering a rebound and beating Leclaire between the pads for a 3-1 lead with his 10th tally of the season.

"I just came across, Moore made a play and I got to it and shot it," Kilger said.

Leclaire stopped 22 shots for the Blue Jackets, who are 1-3-2 in their last six games. It was the first time in over four years that Columbus has played in Toronto, where it is 0-3-1.

"It doesn't matter who you play you have to find a way to put points on the board," Leclaire said.

Meanwhile, Toronto (25-27-9) has won four of six and trails Buffalo (28-23-8) by five points for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.

"Every game is important right now, especially for us, we want to get back in the race for a playoff spot," Toskala said.