TORONTO -- William Nylander couldn't have picked a better night to produce the best offensive performance of his young career.

With Sweden's national team coach in attendance, scouting for the upcoming world championship, Nylander recorded his first career three-point game, helping the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames.

"Of course, I'm happy they're looking, but first (priority is) to go try win a (Calder) Cup," Nylander said of returning to the American Hockey League at the conclusion of the NHL season. "But if we lose in the (AHL) playoffs, and the world championships are still there, then I might take that then."

Nylander scored the eventual winner 29 seconds into the third period, one-timing a Jake Gardiner feed top corner on Jonas Hiller for his fourth of the season. The 19-year-old rookie has five points in his past two games.

P.A. Parenteau, Zach Hyman, Colin Greening and Josh Leivo had the other goals for the Leafs (26-35-11).

The line of Parenteau, Hyman and Nylander combined for five points in the win.

"I thought their line was good," Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "I thought (Nylander) was good defensively, backchecked hard, turned some pucks over, was good in defensive zone faceoffs -- those things are what matter to me more than the (offensive) stuff.

"The (offensive) stuff, we know that he has that, and him, Hyman and P.A. were a good line tonight. Very effective."

Jonathan Bernier made 23 saves to improve to 5-1-0 in six career games against the Flames.

Toronto won for the fourth time in five games and earned at least a point for the sixth time in eight.

"We didn't really have a good start," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "I felt that we didn't have the same intensity as last night, the same jump. We knew that it would be a fast-paced game, and they got timely goals and at the end, they were better than us."

Calgary (31-36-6) got goals from Matt Stajan and Joe Colborne -- two players who previously spent time in the Maple Leafs organization. Hiller stopped 21 shots.

The loss is a blow to the Flames' bleak playoff hopes. Calgary remains 12 points back of the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card in the Western Conference with nine games remaining.

"We came out a little flat. It wasn't a very good first period for us," Stajan said. "There's no excuses, but they play a very tight system. It all began with us coming out flat. We didn't set the tone how we wanted early in the game, and it ended up costing us."

Parenteau opened the scoring, one-timing a Nylander feed past Hiller for his 18th of the season at 11:27 of the first.

Stajan got Calgary on the board, short-handed, midway through the second when his shot beat Bernier short side for his sixth of the season.

Hyman restored Toronto's one-goal lead at 14:26 of the second, redirecting Nylander's shot past Hiller for his fourth of the season.

Things got heated between the two clubs with 5:06 remaining in the second.

After Toronto's Nazem Kadri hit Johnny Gaudreau shoulder to shoulder behind the Leafs net, both Gaudreau and Josh Jooris responded with slashes to the back of Kadri's leg.

With Kadri on the ice, Jooris attempted to drop the gloves with the Leafs center.

Both Gaudreau and Jooris were penalized, while Kadri received a minor penalty for embellishment.

"The slash just kind of surprised me more than anything," Kadri said. "I was expecting someone to punch me in the face. That happened afterwards. From that replay that I saw out there, it looked like he took a pretty good swing. I got nothing back there, no padding or anything. It didn't feel very good."

The Flames tied it 2-2 at 17:32 of the middle period as Mark Giordano's shot redirected off Colborne and past Bernier for his 16th of the season.

Greening and Leivo added an empty-netters in the final minute and a half of the third.

NOTES: Toronto RW Nikita Soshnikov missed his first game with a lower-body injury. ... Leafs C Peter Holland (upper body) missed his second game, and C Leo Komarov (lower body) missed his third game. ... Toronto C Brooks Laich returned Monday after missing Saturday's game against the Buffalo Sabres due to personal reasons. ... G Joni Ortio served as the Flames' backup Monday night. Niklas Backstrom, who picked up the win in Montreal on Sunday, was a scratch as Calgary currently has three goaltenders on its active roster. ... Calgary concludes its three-game road trip Thursday in Minnesota. ... The Maple Leafs continue their four-game homestand Thursday when they play host to the Anaheim Ducks.