Despite a third period push that was led by Phil Kessel, the Toronto Maple Leafs were unable to beat Cam Ward and the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, suffering a 3-2 road loss.
Going into the third period, Kessel had no shots on net through 40 minutes. He made both of his shots count in the third however, scoring on each to trim Carolina's lead to one goal twice in the final frame.
The Leafs could not solve Ward to tie up the game and force overtime. The 27-year old netminder had a shutout going through 40 minutes and went on to stop 23 shots to improve his record to 7-8-2 this season. The win was also Ward's tenth career victory against the Leafs.
Jeff Skinner led the way offensive for the Hurricanes, registering the game-winning goal while adding an assist for first star of the game honours. The 19-year old Markham native now has six points (2G, 4A) in his last five games.
The first goal came late in the first, when former Leaf Jay Harrison's shot from the point beat Ben Scrivens with 29 seconds remaining in the period. The goal was Harrison's second of the season and first against his former team. Picking up the assists were Jeff Skinner for his 12th of the season and captain Eric Staal, giving him five this year.
Carolina extended their lead to two at the 7:05 mark of the second period while on the power play, when a shot from Jussi Jokinen went off the foot of Luke Schenn and into the back of the Leafs' net. Jokinen's goal was his fourth of the year, and the assists were credited to Justin Faulk, giving him his first career point, and former Leaf Alexei Ponikarovski for his second of the season and second career assist against his former team.
The Hurricanes had a dominant second period, outshooting the visiting Leafs 19-7 during the middle frame. They were also incredibly dominant on face-offs, winning 71 percent of the draws through 40 minutes.
Toronto finally got on the scoreboard in the third with a power play goal from Phil Kessel at the 4:31 mark. The goal was scored on Kessel's first shot of the game and was his league-leading 15th of the season. The assists went to Dion Phaneuf for his 13th of the year and Tim Connolly, giving him five this season.
After Scrivens made a great save on a breakaway by Canes captain Eric Staal, last season's rookie of the year Jeff Skinner was there to put home a rebound and re-establish Carolina's two-goal lead. Skinner's goal was scored at the 13:08 mark and was his eighth of the year. In addition to Staal's second assist of the night, the secondary helper was credited to defenceman Bryan Allen.
The Leafs would not give up however as with Scrivens pulled from the net for the extra attacker, Kessel potted his second of the game, ripping the puck past Ward to extend his league-lead in goals. Kessel's second of the game came with just 1:01 remaining in regulation, with the assists going to John-Michael Liles for his ninth this season and Connolly for his second of the night.
Despite a timeout called by Ron Wilson after Kessel's goal and the extra attacker on the ice, Toronto could not tie up the game as the Hurricanes hung on for the victory, their first in four games.
Kessel's two-goal effort is his third multi-goal game this season. With 16 goals scored in 21 games played, the 24-year old league-leader is on pace for 62 goals this season. His previous career-high was 36 goals scored during the 2008-09 season as a member of the Boston Bruins. That season, Kessel scored his 16th goal of the year on Dec. 6.
While he suffered a loss to drop his record to 2-4-1 this season, Ben Scrivens was busy on the night and handled the pressure well, stopping 38 shots in the loss. Unfortunately for the 25-year old netminder, he did not receive much offensive support through the first two periods as the Leafs looked tired in their second game in as many nights
and were badly outshot.
The loss is Toronto's sixth in their last seven games and comes just one night after they scored a season-high seven goals against the Washington Capitals for their first home win in the month of November.
The Leafs are back in action on Tuesday for the second game of their four-game road trip as they take on Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Leafs vs. Hurricanes Stats Recap
Shots
TOR: 25
CAR: 41
Shot Leaders
TOR: Dion Phaneuf (4)
CAR: LaRose and Skinner tied (5)
Power Play
TOR: 1/1
CAR: 1/5
Blocked Shots
TOR: 19
CAR: 12
Blocked Shot Leaders
TOR: Franson and Phaneuf tied (3)
CAR: Jay Harrison (4)
Time on Ice
TOR: Dion Phaneuf (25:59)
CAR: Jay Harrison (22:13)
Three Stars
1) Jeff Skinner - CAR (1G, 1A)
2) Eric Staal - CAR (0G, 2A)
3) Justin Faulk - CAR (0G, 1A)
Game Highlights
For up-to-the-minute Leafs news and updates, be sure to follow Ken Beckett on Twitter @KenBeckett
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