Kadri hat-trick lifts Leafs past Blue Jackets
TORONTO: Nazem Kadri had three goals and two assists, Frederik Andersen made a career-high 54 saves and the surging Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3 on Wednesday night.
Kadri had his fourth career hat trick and set a career high with the five points.
Patrick Marleau added a goal and two assists and Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist to help Toronto close out a perfect five-game home run.
The Blue Jackets had 50 or more shots for the third straight game, making them the first team to accomplish the feat in the post-expansion era (since 1967-68).
Nick Foligno had two goals and an assist, and Joonas Korpisalo made 22 saves.
In Vancouver, Nick Bjugstad had a goal and an assist, leading the Panthers to a 4-3 road win over the Canucks.
The Panthers trailed 2-1 midway through the first period, but battled back with three straight goals, the last two just 1:11 minutes apart.
Evgenii Dadonov, Jamie McGinn and Alexander Petrovic also scored for Florida (25-23-6). The Panthers are 6-1-0 in their last seven games and seven points behind Carolina for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Bo Horvat had a goal and two assists for Vancouver (22-29-6). Brock Boeser and Michael Del Zotto also scored for the Canucks, who are 1-6-0 in their last seven games.
In Denver, Semyon Varlamov made 43 saves and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Montreal Canadiens2-0 to match the franchise record of 10 straight home wins set in Quebec in 1994-95.