Leafs Can't Avoid Hurricanes



RALEIGH, N.C. -- Paul Maurice was able to breathe a little sigh of relief after the Carolina Hurricanes played their best game of the week Sunday.

``I'm just trying to get on the plane (for Monday night's game at Philadelphia),'' the beleaguered coach said with a wry smile after a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

nJeff Skinner had a goal and an assist, and Jay Harrison and Jussi Jokinen also scored as the Hurricanes broke a two-game streak of shutouts and won for only the second time in nine games.

They found their offence against Toronto, with captain Eric Staal contributing a pair of assists. Cam Ward had 23 saves for Carolina, which peppered Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens with 41 shots.

``This is big,'' Staal said. ``No one likes the situation we're in and no one likes to lose. It was nice to have the same type of effort we had against Buffalo (in Friday's 1-0 loss), and we were rewarded with some goals.''

Phil Kessel scored both goals for the Leafs, giving him an NHL-leading 16 goals and 29 points this season.

Carolina has won 12 of the last 17 meetigs with Toronto.

``We scored with plenty of time left,'' Leafs coach Ron Wilson said. ``We had our chances but couldn't find a way to finish.''

Carolina led 1-0 after the first period after outshooting the Leafs 10-4, then 2-0 after tying its season high with 19 shots in the second.

``We knew we played a good, solid game the way we wanted to but you have to have something good come from that,'' said Maurice. ``Everybody was understanding and playing the same game.''

Harrison gave Carolina the lead with 29 seconds left in the first period, picking up a loose puck at the top of the left circle on a rebound of a Skinner shot and blasting it past Scrivens to the glove side. The goal ended a scoring drought of nearly 155 minutes.

Jokinen made it 2-0 on the power play at 7:05 of the second, throwing the puck at the net from the right circle and getting a lucky ricochet off the skate of Luke Schenn. Justin Faulk had the primary assist for his first NHL point on the goal, which snapped Carolina's 0-for-23 slump on the power play.

Kessel cut it to 2-1 on a 4-on-3 at 4:31 of the third, picking up the loose puck on the left doorstep and slamming it home with Dion Phaneuf on the primary assist.

The Hurricanes got the clincher on a rush with just under seven minutes to go when Skinner followed a rebound of a Staal shot and slid it in on the glove side.

``Everyone wants to win, and the biggest pressure is the pressure you put on yourselves,'' Skinner said. ``Especially when you've been going through what we've gone through the last few games. It's not fun.''

Kessel scored his second on a six-on-five with a minute remaining, with John-Michael Liles getting the assist.

Notes: Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice was the Leafs' head coach from 2006-08. . Leafs LW Clarke MacArthur (upper body) and RW Mike Brown (undisclosed) each missed his third straight game. . Carolina D Joni Pitkanen (lower body) missed his fourth straight. . Hurricanes D Tomas Kaberle played for Toronto from 1998-2011, while teammates C Tim Brent, LW Alexei Ponikarovsky, C Jiri Tlusty and D Jay Harrison are also former Leafs.

Tuesday, November 22   @ Tampa Bay Lightning   7:30 PM ET (Sportsnet, AM640)

The Maple Leafs' road trip hits Florida as they take on their third straight Southeast Division opponent, this time the always tough Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay is 6-2-0 this season at home having lost their last home game against New Jersey on Saturday 4-2.