Matthews has 2 more goals, Maple Leafs defeat Blue Jackets

Justin Danforth scored, and Daniil Tarasov made 26 saves for the Blue Jackets (11-18-6), who lost their second straight after alternating wins and losses in their past seven games.

“We played a pretty good hockey game, but they played very strong defensively,” Columbus defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “They needed it; we knew what happened to them in Buffalo. They were going to come back. At the end of the day, they scored on their chances and we didn’t, but we certainly had them.”

Columbus forward Sean Kuraly sustained an abdominal injury and collapsed while heading down the tunnel to the locker room with 19 seconds left in the first period after being sandwiched in a check between Matthews and Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe behind the Maple Leafs’ net.

While the injury did not appear serious, according to the Blue Jackets, he was taken to a hospital for further evaluation.

The remainder of the period was suspended after his teammates and coaches frantically began waving for medical personnel from across the ice, even throwing a towel to get the attention of the officials to stop play.

Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said after the game there was no update on Kuraly.

“It was a scary moment,” Vincent said.

Matthews gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 8:20 of the first period. After Columbus forward Dmitri Voronkov’s giveaway, Marner circled the net and passed to Matthews in the right circle for a one-timer.

“Once we started to play north, we were a much better team,” Vincent said. “What we’re going to learn from that game is how we’re going to manage the puck against a team like Toronto.”

Danforth tied it 1-1 at 22 seconds of the second period on a partial breakaway set up by Johnny Gaudreau.

Tavares put the Maple Leafs back ahead 2-1 at 2:58 during a 4-on-4 with a spin move in the left circle and a shot under the bar.

“I had some room to attack the net,” Tavares said. “I was happy to see it go in.”