Sillinger, Olivier lead Blue Jackets to 6-3 win over Maple Leafs for third straight win

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cole Sillinger had two goals and an assist, and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Wednesday night for their third straight win.

Mathieu Olivier had a goal and three assists, Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist, and Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro also scored for the Blue Jackets, who have won five of six. Charlie Coyle had four assists, and Elvis Merzlikins finished with 35 saves.

Sammy Blais and Nicholas Robertson each had a goal and an assist, and John Tavares scored his 500th career goal for Toronto. Cayden Primeau had 19 saves as the Maple Leafs snapped a two-game win streak and lost for the fourth time in six games (2-3-1).

Toronto outshot Columbus 9-6 in the first period but trailed by two goals after 20 minutes.

Sillinger gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead 6:56 into game, taking a pass from Coyle inside the blue line, skating up on Primeau and beating the goalie with a forehand shot past the blocker. Coyle got his 300th career assist on the play.

Werenski made it 2-0 with 8:44 remaining in the first as he fired a shot past Primeau on the glove side.

The Maple Leafs then had an 18-7 advantage on shots in the second and fell further behind.

Blais, in the lineup in place of William Nylander (lower body injury) after 10 games as a healthy scratch, got Toronto on the scoreboard at 2:43.

However, the Blue Jackets scored three goals in an 8 1/2-minute stretch later in the period to pull away.

Provorov put a backhander past Primeau at 8:33 to restore the two-goal lead. Sillinger got his second of the night with 6:36 remaining as he scored on a 2-on-1 with Coyle, and Fabbro made it 5-1 a little more than 3 1/2 minutes later as got a drop pass from Olivier and fired it past Primeau from inside the left circle.

Olivier made it a four goal lead at 7:50 of the third, and Tavares and Robertson scored 2:25 apart late to pull the Maple Leafs to 6-3.

Maple Leafs: At Philadelphia on Saturday.

Blue Jackets: Host St. Louis on Saturday.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (90) makes a save on a shot by Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares (91) next to defenseman Damon Severson (78) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Columbus, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Dante Fabbro (15) shoots and scores on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Cayden Primeau (30) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Columbus, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Columbus Blue Jackets' Charlie Coyle (3) shoots on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Cayden Primeau (30) in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Columbus, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, center, celebrates his goal with teammates Cole Sillinger, left, and Mathieu Olivier (24) in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Columbus, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Columbus Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger (4) celebrates his goal with defenseman Ivan Provorov (9) in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Columbus, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

MILAN (AP) — Canada has not decided whether injured captain Sidney Crosby will play in the gold medal game at the Olympics against the U.S. on Sunday, coach Jon Cooper said Saturday.

Crosby skated in practice, which was closed to reporters to maintain a shroud of secrecy around the status of the 38-year-old center who is the most decorated player on the team with two Olympic gold medals and three Stanley Cup rings and was a key contributor before getting hurt.

"Obviously we’d love to have him," Cooper said. “He won’t put himself in harm’s way, and he’s not going to put the team in harm’s way.”

Crosby left the quarterfinal game Wednesday night against Czechia with an apparent right knee injury and did not play against Finland on Friday night in the semifinals. Connor McDavid wore the “C” in Crosby's absence and assisted on Nathan MacKinnon's go-ahead goal with 35.2 seconds remaining.

International rules allow teams to dress 13 forwards instead of the 12 permitted in the NHL, but Cooper cast doubt on the possibility of Crosby being in uniform just to fill a limited role.

“No. No, it’s too important,” Cooper said. "We don’t want to have somebody in there as an inspiration when we could have a player that could be capable of helping. You never know if guys are going to get hurt in the game. He wouldn’t want to do that, either.”

Cooper pointed to two of his players with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli, who were chosen for the roster but stayed home because they were not healthy enough to be a bigger help than their replacements. Injured defenseman Josh Morrissey has been ruled out.

“When it comes to the flag, nobody’s getting in the way,” Cooper said. “If they’re not capable of giving what they think is optimal effort, they don’t want to put the country at harm. They understand what we have here.”

Canada rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat Finland, motivated in part by giving Crosby a chance to play one more game at what could be his final Olympics.

“We’ve done that, and we’ll see,” McDavid said. “He’s been around a lot. Obviously, he’s been extremely positive: still contributing, even though he didn’t play last game, but still being the leader he is.”

Nick Suzuki, who moved into the spot playing between Mitch Marner and Mark Stone, figures to be there again in the final if Crosby is unavailable. Suzuki said Crosby “looked really good out there on the ice” and hopes the well-respected captain will be good enough to go.

“It’d mean a lot to him and probably us," Suzuki said. “He’s such a big leader, big voice. Everyone looks up to him. It’d be awesome if he could play.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Canada's Sidney Crosby (87) is attended to after being injured during the second period of a men's ice hockey quarterfinal game between Canada and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Canada's Sidney Crosby (87) is led away from the ice after being injured during the second period of a men's ice hockey quarterfinal game between Canada and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Canada's Connor McDavid wears the team captain's letter C on his jersey in place of the injured Sidney Crosby during the second period of a men's ice hockey semifinal game against Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)