Matthews scores 40th as Leafs hold off Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Auston Matthews became the first player to score 40 goals this season, Petr Mrazek made 31 saves and the Toronto Maple Leafs held off the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 on Monday night.

Matthews and linemates Mitch Marner and Michael Bunting each had a goal and an assist, and llya Mikheyev and Alexander Kerfoot also scored as Toronto snapped a two-game losing streak. T.J. Brodie had two assists.

Elvis Merzlikins, starting his third game in four days for Columbus, made 28 saves, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a third straight loss for the Blue Jackets, who dropped a back-to-back over the weekend.

Sean Kuraly, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jack Roslovic and Patrik Laine scored for Columbus. Gus Nyquist and Max Domi each had two assists.

The Maple Leafs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in a dominant first period. The Blue Jackets had tied it by early in the third period, but let it slip away.

After bringing sustained early pressure in the Columbus end, Mikheyev beat Merzlikins 8:06 into the game.

Marner scored off a rebound from Bunting’s long shot with 5:59 left in the first. Matthews got his league-leading 40th goal about three minutes later with a wraparound shot to the far post.

The Blue Jackets closed it to 3-1 early in the second when a long shot by Domi bounced in off Kuraly. Bjorkstrand cut the lead to one with his 20th goal late in the second during a 4-on-4.

Roslovic tapped in a nice pass from Domi to tie the game on a power play 2:28 into third period.

Kerfoot banged in a goal off the far post to put Toronto up 4-3, and the Leafs added another when Bunting shoveled the puck in over Merzlikin’s skate in traffic with 8:39 left in the game.

Laine made it a one-goal game again with 48 seconds left, but the Blue