Frederik Andersen made 32 saves to bolster his glittering record the past few weeks as the Carolina Hurricanes held off the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2-1 victory Sunday night in Raleigh, N.C.
Brady Skjei and Sebastian Aho scored in the first period as the Hurricanes (45-20-7, 97 points) stretched their points streak to seven games. Andersen is 6-0-0 since coming back to action after a months-long absence because of a health scare.
Nicholas Robertson scored for the Maple Leafs (40-21-9, 89 points). Joseph Woll made 41 saves, including all 27 shots he faced across the final two periods.
Andersen stopped all 20 shots through two periods, then was called upon for some strong work after the Maple Leafs cut the gap to 2-1 in the third.
Carolina, which went 3-0-0 against the Maple Leafs during the regular season, had to withstand Toronto’s six-on-five efforts in the last couple of minutes, nearly gaining a clincher but an empty-net attempt from Seth Jarvis hit the right post. While the Hurricanes went on to win, that misfortune for the Hurricanes forward meant his six-game goals streak ended.
Skjei’s goal came just 66 seconds into the game. He waited near the top of the slot as the puck was mishandled in front of the crease. When the puck trickled out to the defenseman, he converted for his 12th goal of the season.
Aho notched his team-high 31st goal of the season on a power play 13:55 into the game. He has four goals in a two-game stretch.
Aho was attempting a pass across the slot when the puck hit the skate of a Toronto player and ended up in the net.
Robertson’s 10th goal came with 11:09 remaining after Andersen lost his stick and couldn’t recover. Robertson hadn’t scored in the previous three games since notching a goal March 16 at home against the Hurricanes.
The Maple Leafs didn’t have goalie Ilya Samsonov available after he left Saturday night’s game vs. Edmonton with a third-period injury. The team has reported Samsonov isn’t believed to have sustained a serious injury.
–Field Level Media
