RALEIGH , NC – Anyone in the path of a storm knows there will be damage, it is just a matter of how severe the damage will be. So it should be no surprise to the Toronto Maple Leafs that any trip to Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes would likely take a heavy toll.
And so it was Monday night as the Hurricanes fought off multiple comeback attempts to defeat the Maple Leafs 6-4 to close out their last home game before the All-Star break and register their 1,000 victory in franchise history.
Carolina came out strong against the Maple Leafs who seemed a little behind in play most of the opening period. Still, Toronto goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere kept his team in the game while facing some quality scoring chances early-on. Then Toronto found a little spark.
While short-handed with Tomas Kaberle off for tripping, Tyler Bozak jumped on a giveaway in the Hurricanes zone and blasted a shot high above the Carolina goal. It would be their best chance of the period.
Seconds later, as the Hurricanes attempted to set-up their power-play, Joe Corvo sent a cannon shot from the right point high above Giguere. The resulting carom around the boards slid to Zach Boychuk who shot wide from the left point and the power play ended with no sustainable pressure. Finally, the effort by Carolina finally paid dividends. At 11:29, Carl Gunnarsson was sent off for high-sticking and the Hurricanes quickly went to work. Forty-seven seconds into the penalty, Joni Pitkanen pulled a puck off the far boards and fed it to defenseman Joe Corvo. Corvo sent the puck toward a crowd of players and beat Giguere who had no chance on the play as the puck passed him just above his left pad. It was the seventh of the year for Corvo and gave the Hurricanes the first goal of the game.
On the ensuing face-off, Leafs left wing Clarke MacArthur took matters into his own hands to fire up his teammates and engaged in a gentleman’s fight with Carolina right wing Chad LaRose. The Leafs leading scorer landed a couple of initial shots before LaRose landed his share. The bout ended with MacArthur standing over LaRose who had fallen in the wild scuffle and the Toronto leader ended the bout and went to the penalty box. The altercation seemed to charge the Leafs for a time.
Mikhail Grabovski came close to finishing a three-on-two play up ice with Nikolai Kulemin and Fredrik Sjostrom on the wings. Then a scramble in front to Carolina goaltender Cam Ward led to a penalty that would put the Leafs on their second power play of the night. With Tim Gleason off for roughing at 16:51, Toronto pressured the Hurricanes deep in their zone. They put several quality chances on Ward, but were turned aside at every attempt.
Finally, with nine seconds left in the period, Tomas Kaberle sent a backhand shot through a maze of players that had eyes and found the net between five players and past Cam Ward to knot the game up at 1-1. It was his second of the season and provided the Maple Leafs some satisfaction to a period in which they were doing all they could to stay in the game. But all was not over in the period.
As time expired, a collision occurred along the boards in front of the Carolina bench. All five skaters on both teams were involved and Tim Gleason decided it was time to play pin the fist on the Russian giving Nikolai Kulemin a bloody nose before he turtled up with his face bleeding like an open faucet; Kulemin did not return to the game.
Carolina had the puck in the Leafs zone most of the first period although the shots would finish six to five in favor of Toronto.
After the altercation at the end the first period, Gleason was given a five minute fighting major and a game misconduct while Kulemin received a roughing minor. What resulted was four-on-four play for the first two minutes before Toronto went on a three-minute power play, but the Leafs still could not convert the man advantage and Carolina gained energy.
Carolina right wing Erik Cole aimed a point blank shot that Giguere wisely steered into the near corner. Minutes later, Tuomu Ruutu skated strongly toward the Toronto goal making an attempt to the right of Giguere passing behind the net and trying to stuff it in on the stick side. It looked like he succeeded, but referee Dan O’Rourke blew his whistle and ruled no goal. Video review ruled the puck had not crossed the line, much to the dismay of the 16,201 on hand who had seen the replay several times on the scoreboard that appeared to show the effort did, in fact, result in a second Carolina goal.
Undeterred from the call and the unhappy fans, Carolina pressed on and continued the assault on the Maple Leaf net, before a Carolina penalty killed the momentum. Ian White was called for hooking at 5:22 and Toronto had life, but failed to mount any pressure as the Hurricanes killed off their fourth penalty of the night. Ward made a great left pad save in close as the penalty expired.
Carolina continued to punish any Leafs player stepping within twenty feet of the goal, rubbing them out along the boards and stepping up on them in the slot. Meanwhile, at the other end, Toronto was fortunate to have Giguere and his great saves keeping them in the game. One of the best chances for Carolina was midway through the period when Ian White tipped a centering pass from Joni Pitkanen that the netminder barely got a piece of with his right pad.
But Giguere could not step everything sent his way. At 11:16 of the second period, players from both teams fought along the boards for the puck. Finally, it squirted toward the blueline where Jamie McBain was waiting. He sent a slap shot toward the Toronto goal from the right point that fooled Giguere on the way in and went right over his left pad. The unassisted goal gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead and the momentum continued their way.
Carolina kept allowing Toronto back into the game. Jeff Skiner was sent off for holding at 15:25 of the period and just thirty five seconds later, Eric Cole was sent off for interference. Toronto had a two-man advantage in what could have become a major turning point in the game.
Ward stopped a sharp drive form the left point kicking the puck to his left. The rebound went wide, but the five-on-three advantage continued as Toronto continued intense pressure in the Carolina zone. Ward kept every shot out with brilliant, confident goaltending at a time when the Hurricanes needed a savior.
Perhaps the frustration of not scoring on six consecutive power plays in the first forty minutes got to the best of Toronto. Colby Armstrong was sent off for hooking at 19:16 and the Hurricanes went to work, but failed to convert despite several in-close chances as Giguere kept things close. The Leafs continued to hold an advantage on shots 20-19, but Carolina held the lead in goals 2-1 after two periods.
The third period began just about where the second period left off with Carolina momentum. With a penalty about to be called just less than two minutes into the period, Carolina pushed into the Toronto zone and came on strong. With Ward having rushed off the ice for the extra attacker, Ian White sent a wrister on net which Giguere stopped, but couldn’t control the rebound. Brandon Sutter, parked in front, dove toward the loose puck and while falling, sent the puck into the open net for a 3-1 lead.
Just seconds after the goal, Toronto got back into the game when Tim Brent drove toward the net and sent a backhander on goal. Ward misplayed the soft drive with his catching glove and it sailed into the net narrowing the Toronto deficit to 3-2.
A minute later, Tim Brent was at it again as he crossed into the Carolina zone and faked a slap shot, freezing Ward who dropped to his knees, and lifting a shot high into the open net to tie the score at three. It was his second of the game and sixth of the season giving Toronto confidence heading deeper into the third period.
It didn’t take long for Carolina to answer when a little more than four minutes later, Jussi Jokinen dug the puck out of traffic along the near boards and sent Brandon Sutter up ice down the left side to lead a two-on-one break. Seeing an open space, he snapped a quick wrist shot just inside the far post for his second of the game and tenth of the season to give Carolina a 4-3 lead.
Toronto , as they had done all night, continued to put themselves in a difficult position. Fredrik Sjostrom took a goaltending interference penalty halfway through the final period sending Carolina to the power play and it didn’t take long for them to cash in. Joe Corvo sent a blast from the right point that Giguere stopped cleanly, but could not control the rebound. Jeff Skinner collected the puck and sent it past the Toronto goaltender with nine minutes to go in the game. It was his eighteenth of the season.
Still, Carolina could not stay out of the penalty box. At 14:15, Toronto crafted a nifty passing play that began when Carl Gunnarsson pulled the puck off the near boards near the Carolina blueline and passed it forward to Tim Brent. In one quick movement, Brent controlled and backhanded the puck to a wide open Mike Brown who made no mistake in sending the shot past Ward on the open side to close the gap to 5-4.
No sooner did Toronto gain momentum when Sjostrom took his second penalty of the period, a slashing infraction, and the Hurricanes were back in business with the man advantage. The resulting pressure applied in the Toronto zone led to second penalty, this one to Francois Beauchemin for tripping late in the game and a two man-advantage. Precious time for the Maple Leafs was wasted.
With a final chance for Carolina to put the game away, Eric Cole intercepted the puck at the red line and sent it toward the empty net sealing a 6-4 victory for Carolina.
Carolina improved their record to 24-19-6 while Toronto continued to falter dropping their record to 19-24-5.
The NHL All-Star Game is this coming weekend with the Draft held on Friday, Skills Competition on Saturday and finally, the game featuring Team Lidstrom and Team Staal.
Contact: dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.com
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