TORONTO -- The Columbus Blue Jackets were on the verge of entering the playoffs on a seven-game losing streak after falling behind the Toronto Maple Leafs by two goals in the second period Sunday night.

Then the Blue Jackets turned it on, scoring three straight goals, including a short-handed effort in the final minute of the second period that proved to be winner, and Columbus defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2.

Matt Calvert scored the first goal for Columbus and set up Cam Atkinson with the go-ahead marker.

Even though the win ended a six-game losing string, Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said he was confident that his team would have been ready to play the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first-round playoff series even if it had lost to Toronto.

He feels that clinching a playoff spot with 11 games left in the regular season might have contributed to the losing streak.

"Even if we lose tonight, I'm not worried about the team," Tortorella said. "I trust the team. This is new to them clinching a playoff spot with 11 games left. Did I handle it right as a coach? I don't know. I really haven't been involved in that situation too much, either. A number of these players certainly haven't, either. No matter what happened tonight, I still feel we'd be ready to play (against Pittsburgh)."

The Maple Leafs, however, did not clinch their playoff spot until Saturday night, when they defeated the Penguins 5-3. They needed at least a point Sunday to finish third in the Atlantic Division and play the Ottawa Senators. Instead, they finished in the second wild-card spot and play the Washington Capitals, who finished first in the Eastern Conference, in the opening playoff round.

"I thought that last night was emotional for us," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "I was hoping we were going to have enough juice today to dig in and get going and I didn't think we had much juice. I thought we started OK, got a power play for four minutes and after that they kind of sucked the life out of us. Tonight was disappointing in that way. In saying all that, if you'd have told me at the start (of the season) that we could be in this situation we're in right now, obviously, I would have done a little jig."

Josh Anderson also scored for Columbus (50-24-8).

"They should feel good about themselves," Tortorella said. "It's been a little while, but they get to put some music on."

James van Riemsdyk scored two goals for Toronto (40-27-15).

"I think we've got to move forward," van Riemsdyk said. "We're obviously looking forward to playing in the playoffs now and we'll have a good challenge in front of us. Once you get in anything can happen. You've just got to play right and we're excited for the challenge. This is always a fun time of year to play games in and they're always games I've enjoyed playing in."

Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves in the Columbus goal, and Toronto goaltender Curtis McElhinney had 29 stops.

The Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead on van Riemsdyk's wrist shot from the left circle at 2:03 of the second period. Van Riemsdyk scored his second of the game and his 29th of the season from the left circle at 6:36 of the second, using Mitch Marner as a decoy in the two-on-one.

Calvert scored his 10th goal of the season on a backhand at 12:32 of the second to cut the Toronto lead to 2-1.

"We found our game midway through the second period," Calvert said. "You know, sometimes it just takes a goal. It gets the team going. It's a great comeback win, a good feeling and we can set our sights on (Pittsburgh) now."

The Blue Jackets tied the score at 17:16 on the 17th goal of the season by Anderson, who burst down the right wing and put a high wrister past McElhinney.

The Blue Jackets took a 3-2 lead at 19:20 of the second on a short-handed goal from the slot by Atkinson, his 35th of the season, on a pass from Calvert. Columbus' Sam Gagner was serving an interference penalty.

"I was pretty tired going up the ice," Atkinson said. "I was calling for it, at the last second (Calvert) made a great pass and all I had to do was put it in the back of the net."

Atkinson felt it was important to go into the playoffs with a win.

"It's crucial," he said. "I think we played with arrogance tonight and every line contributed. It feels good. They were up 2-0 but we didn't panic, which we might have in the last (several) games or so. We just stuck to our game plan and plugged away."

NOTES: Toronto D Nikita Zaitsev (upper-body injury) left the game Sunday after playing 6:47 and did not return. ... Maple Leafs G Frederik Andersen (head) did not play but is expected to be ready for the first playoff game. He left the win over the Pittsburgh Penguins early in the second period Saturday after being knocked to the ice. Coach Mike Babcock said he showed no concussion symptoms. The Maple Leafs recalled G Garret Sparks from the AHL Toronto Marlies, and he backed up G Curtis McElhinney Sunday. ... The Blue Jackets recalled LW Sonny Milano from AHL Cleveland on Sunday. Milano had played three games with the Blue Jackets this season. ... D Seth Jones, C Alexander Wennberg and LW Scott Hartnell did not play for Columbus.