Maple Leafs prevail 3-2, extend Hurricanes' skid

By: JournalNow Staff | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 07, 2009

RALEIGH

Jason Blake scored on a power play with 8:24 left and Jonas Gustavsson made 34 saves to help the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 last night.

John Mitchell and Nikolai Kulemin also scored for Toronto.

Brandon Sutter and Sergei Samsonov scored for Carolina. Last in the NHL at 2-10-3, the Hurricanes are winless in their last 11 games.

Blake scored on a wicked wrist shot from the slot. With Rod Brind'Amour off for holding, Blake's shot ripped off the right post before ricocheting into the net.

Sutter opened the scoring midway through the first period. Brind'Amour kicked the puck toward Sutter, who backhanded it past Gustavsson's glove from the slot.

The Hurricanes took a two-goal advantage a little less than 10 minutes later when Gustavsson couldn't control Andrew Alberts' shot from the point, allowing Samsonov to clean up the rebound in front of the net.

Toronto tied it early in the second.

Mitchell scored first when he slapped a shot from just inside the blue line past Cam Ward, who was screened by Brind'Amour.

Six minutes later, Alexei Ponikarovsky set up Kulemin with a nice centering pass from the corner, allowing Kulemin to tip the puck through Ward's legs.

The Hurricanes were without two of their leading scorers in Eric Staal and Ray Whitney. They are sidelined by upper-body injuries.

Toronto 0 2 1 -- 3

Carolina 2 0 0 -- 2

First Period--1, Carolina, Sutter 3 (Brind'Amour, Corvo), 7:51. 2, Carolina, Samsonov 2 (Alberts, Jokinen), 17:22.

Second Period--3, Toronto, Mitchell 1 (Kaberle, Blake), 1:12. 4, Toronto, Kulemin 3 (Ponikarovsky, Grabovski), 7:23..

Third Period--5, Toronto, Blake 2 (Stempniak, Kessel), 11:36 (pp).

Shots on Goal--Toronto 8-10-8--26. Carolina 8-10-18--36. Power-play opportunities--Toronto 1 of 2; Carolina 0 of 3. Goalies--Toronto, Gustavsson 2-2-3 (36 shots-34 saves). Carolina, C.Ward 2-9-3 (26-23).

A--14,164 (18,680). T--2:20.