RALEIGH, NC – The Toronto Maple Leafs extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night, showcasing a resilient performance and capitalizing on key offensive opportunities.
The Maple Leafs’ victory marks their third consecutive win and demonstrates their ability to overcome adversity on the road. Toronto’s strong defensive play and opportunistic scoring proved to be the difference against a typically formidable Hurricanes team. The win solidifies Toronto’s position in a competitive Eastern Conference playoff race.
Toronto took a 1-0 lead at 11:45 of the first period. Philippe Myers’ dump-in from the red line caromed off the glass and into the slot, where Scott Laughton tapped the puck over frederik Andersen’s right pad.
“Right off a glass stanchion, kind of popped right out to me,” Laughton said. “Honestly, [Andersen] almost saved it. It went off the top of his pad, I think. Good, fortunate bounce, but I’ll definitely take it.”
Carolina responded at 15:45, with a goal from Colin jarvis. Shayne Gostisbehere received a pass in the slot from Sebastian Aho before wrapping a pass around toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly for a backdoor tap-in.
“It’s never easy coming back in this League.You want to have a good start in every game and get rolling,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “There’s a few too many passes in-zone, but they do a great job of staying in lanes. They blocked a ton of shots. It’s a little different trying to get pucks through.”
Matthew knies extended Toronto’s lead to 3-1 at 4:44 of the second period with a highlight-reel goal.Knies poked the puck away from Gostisbehere at Carolina’s offensive blue line, maintained possession after Gostisbehere checked him to the ice at Toronto’s offensive blue line, then fended off Aho near the right hash marks before flipping a backhand over Andersen’s glove.
“I just got kind of a break. [Gostisbehere] lost his stick there,” Knies said. “I just tried to dip my shoulder and get some space and find the back of the net.”
