Hurricanes 4, Maple Leafs 1
TORONTO -- Jordan and Eric Staal, Justin Faulk and Patrick Dwyer scored as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Monday before a crowd of 19,073 at Air Canada Centre.
Matt Frattin scored for the Maple Leafs, who took a 1-0 lead out of the first period.
Cam Ward stopped all but one of 41 shots in the Carolina goal and was strong during a Toronto power play near the midpoint of the third period. James Reimer stopped 35 of 39 shots in the Toronto goal.
Carolina took the lead with two second-period goals and started the third period with a two-man advantage after two Toronto penalties late in the second period. The Hurricanes made it pay off 43 seconds into the third when Faulk scored his second goal of the season. A video review showed the puck had crossed the goal line, just getting past Reimer, who was making his fifth consecutive start.
Carolina took a three-goal lead at 9:58 of the third period when Dwyer put a wrist shot past Reimer for his third goal of the season.
The Hurricanes (4-4-0), who were fortunate to escape the first period down only 1-0, tied the score at 1:21 of the second period on the first goal of the season by Jordan Staal on a backhand. The Leafs (4-5-0) were caught off guard when icing was called off and Staal was left alone in front of the goal when the puck came out to him from the corner.
Eric Staal, Jordan's older brother, gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 10:21. Staal's seventh goal of the season was a pass in front of the goal that went in off the skate of Leafs defenseman Mike Kostka. Leafs forward Jay McClement had been given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at 9:41.
But the short-handed Leafs had the first opportunity on the Carolina power play after the puck hit referee Marc Joannette in face as it came out of Toronto's end. Ward made the save on Nikolai Kulemin, who broke in on him.
Joannette went off for treatment for a few minutes before returning and the game continued while he was off with one referee. He was back by the time Tyler Bozak put the puck into the net for the Maple Leafs at 18:44. It was called no goal after a video review determined that he had kicked the puck into the net from the edge of the crease.
Carolina had a 32-23 edge in shots on goal after two periods.
The Maple Leafs had the upper hand early and took the lead on the fifth goal of the season by Frattin, who put home a rebound that came out to him in the slot at 5:44 after Ward stopped a shot by Nazem Kadri.
The Leafs couldn't add to their advantage despite going on the power play twice in the period after a high-sticking penalty to Jamie McBain at 7:35 and a tripping penalty to Kevin Westgarth at 13:54.
The Leafs had an 18-12 advantage in shots after one period.
NOTES: The Hurricanes were playing the second game of a six-game trip. They lost the first game to the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday. Their next game is Thursday against the Ottawa Senators. ... Eric Staal entered Monday's game with at least a point in his five previous games. ... The Maple Leafs were finishing a three-game homestand. They go on the road for three games starting Tuesday at Washington. ... Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu (hip) remains out. ... Forward Andreas Nodl and defenseman Joe Corvo were Carolina scratches on Monday. ... The Maple Leafs recalled defenseman Korbinian Holzer from the Toronto Marlies of the AHL and winger Ryan Hamilton to the Marlies. ... Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (hip), defenseman Mike Komisarek (eye) and forward David Steckel were the Toronto scratches. Gunnarsson had an MRI. "There's no muscular tear," Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said Monday morning. "There's nothing other than irritation there. It's been something that's been bothering him for a while. But we feel like it'll settle down."
