James Reimer finally allowed a goal but the Toronto Maple Leafs still beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-3 for their third straight victory.

Reimer entered the night having posted 74 saves in two consecutive shutouts, but it was team mate Phil Kessel who took on the role of game-winner from the goaltender with two goals to lead the Maple Leafs' charge.

Kessel pushed his goal total to 29 on the season with his two scores but was keen to praise the role of his team mates.

"It was all (Matthew Lombardi)," Kessel said of his first goal, a second-period wrist shot. "He saw me and made a great pass and it was a pretty easy one - open net."

The win moved Toronto (28-19-6) into seventh in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race.

Edmonton's Jordan Eberle netted a score 21 seconds into the game to end any hope of a third straight Toronto shutout. He then added another late in a first period to level the game at 2-2 after Clarke MacArthur and Jake Gardiner had scored for the Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs then took control with early second-period scores from Kessel and Tyler Bozak to grab a 4-2 lead.

Jeff Petry pulled the visitors within a score midway through the second but Joffrey Lupul answered for Toronto a few minutes later and Kessel capped the scoring in the final 1:05 of the game.

Reimer finished with 27 saves to top Devan Dubnyk's 25 stops for Edmonton as the Oilers (21-27-5) had their three-game winning streak snapped.

"I thought we had a terrific start and really felt good the way the game was going," said Oilers assistant coach Ralph Krueger, who filled in for head coach Tom Renney after he was struck with a puck in a morning practice.

"Once we went down two, we did give up our defense too much."

Reuters