The Carolina Hurricanes were outshot in every period but were able to salvage a point against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night as they lost, 2-1 in overtime.
Cam Ward put in a sterling performance up until the game winner -- 44 seconds into overtime -- as he made 36 saves on 38 shots. James Reimer had a much more quiet night at the other end of the rink as he made 18 saves on just 19 Carolina shots.
The Canes were outplayed for much of this one as the Leafs outshot the visitors, 13-5 in the first, 13-7 in the second, 9 -7 in the third, and 3-0 in OT.
The game was scoreless until Tim Connolly tipped in a shot with just four minutes and change left in the game. But the Hurricanes tied things up during a powerplay chance late when Eric Staal found Alexei Ponikarovsky in front of the net with just 1:54 left.
The overtime period was all Toronto as the game winner was also knocked in by Connolly when Ward allowed a puck to squirt behind him. Justin Faulk made a valiant effort as he dove in the crease to knock the puck away, but it bounced back into play, right to the former Sabre who was in perfect position to bang it home.
The Canes fly back to Raleigh and will take on the Vancouver Canucks at the RBC on Thursday.
Game Notes:
- The team officially finished 1-3 on the powerplay and did not allow a goal against while killing.
- They only won 36% of their faceoffs. (Staal 43%, Sutter 27%, Jokinen 33%, Brent 50%)
- Chad LaRose, Jiri Tlusty, and Faulk each had a team high three shots each.
- The Canes had 17 blocked shots led by Poni with four.
- LaRose and Poni led the way with six hits each. The Canes had a total of 33 for the game.
- Scoring chances were 18-12 Leafs.
- Jamie McBain had a team high 24:09 of ice time
Check out post game quotes at Canes PR.com