Hurricanes 1, Maple Leafs 0 - (OT)

The Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs battled back and forth with no score for over 60 minutes on Thursday night until Jordan Staal knocked in a rebound in overtime to win it for the Canes.

Eddie Lack stopped all 32 shots he faced to earn his first shutout as a Hurricane.

Both Lack and James Reimer were able to stop everything they faced in regulation.  Reimer made 40 saves on 41Carolina shots.

The game went in waves, as one team would dominate possession, then the other would.  Neither could break through on the scoreboard though.

The Leafs got close when Michael Grabner stole a pass and broke in alone during a Carolina powerplay, but Lack stood tall and made the save.  The home team also had a 2-on-0 chance when Jaccob Slavin slid too soon trying to break up a play  in overtime, but again Lack made a huge save.

The Hurricanes cranked up the pressure in the third period but could get no closer than when Victor Rask hit the post on a nice attempt with about three minutes left.

In overtime, coach Bill Peters stuck with his two defensemen strategy.  First out were Jordan Staal, Justin Faulk, and Ron Hainsey.

With 2:06 left, Faulk rifled a shot on Reimer, and the rebound bounced out to Staal, who made no mistake putting it in the net.  Brett Pesce, playing in his first game after missing two because of injury, was also on the ice.

The win gives Carolina a total of 50 points, keeping them close in the playoff race.  They returned home right after the game so they can play the Rangers on Friday night at the PNC.

Game Notes:

• The Canes went 0-4 on the powerplay.  They killed each of the powerplays they faced.  They are now killing penalties at a 90% clip since early December.
• Jeff Skinner had a season high eight shots on goal.  Faulk was right behind with six.  The Canes outshot the Leafs, 41-32.
• Faulk led the way with 25:28 of ice time.  Slavin was next with 22:49.  Slavin also had a team high three blocked shots.
• Event Summary