Easton Cowan had tied it 1-1 for Toronto with 3:17 remaining in the third period. Nylander fed him with a no-look pass from behind the net for a sharp-angled shot from the right side that went over Greaves’ shoulder.
Joseph Woll made 35 saves for the Maple Leafs (10-10-3), who had lost two in a row and seven of eight.
“It was huge, huge win for us, and just pumped to get it done,” Woll said. “We stuck to our game plan, grinded one out on the road. It’s great to get the two points there.”
Zach Werenski scored, and Greaves made 22 saves for the Blue Jackets (11-9-4), who have lost three straight (0-2-1) and blown third-period leads in two of them.
“Obviously we don’t want to lose a lead like that again and then lose in overtime,” Werenski said. “I’m sure everyone’s probably sick of it and sick of hearing it.
“But at the end of the day, we played really good hockey today. I mean, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves or be down about it. … Obviously, we don’t want that to happen and we’ve addressed it and talked about it. But in saying that, we’re leading in almost every game and late in games.”
The Blue Jackets led 11-6 in shots after the first but went 0-for-3 on the power play in the period.
“Getting the three kills was huge,” Nylander said.
Werenski had a goal overturned at 13:04 of the second period after Toronto challenged for offside, but the defenseman gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 13:30 of the third. He took a pass from Miles Wood on the rush and snapped a shot from low in the left circle to the short side.
