Andersen stops 31 shots as Hurricanes edge Leafs

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Brady Skjei and Sebastian Aho scored as the surging Carolina Hurricanes beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Sunday night for their sixth win in seven games.

Frederik Andersen made 31 saves and earned his sixth straight win since returning from injury on March 7 as the Hurricanes picked up points in their seventh straight game. Carolina lost to Washington on Friday night.

Nicholas Robertson scored and Joseph Woll stopped 41 shots for Toronto, which was coming off a 6-3 home win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday and had its two-game winning streak halted.

“Overall, it was a great effort,” said Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We had tons of opportunities. They had theirs. For a low-scoring game, there were quite a few opportunities.”

The Maple Leafs had a late power play after a Brent Burns’ tripping penalty, and pulled Woll for an extra skater, but failed to score. Toronto finished 0-for-4 on the power play.

Andersen has been a boost for Carolina’s charge to try and catch the New York Rangers in the race for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. Andersen missed four months with a blood-clotting issue. Since his return, he has stopped 154 of 162 shots and allowed two or fewer goals in each of his six starts.

“If you’ve been out that long, I don’t care what position you play, there’s going to be some rust factor, but he certainly doesn’t look like there’s any of that,” Brind’Amour said.

Aho said the team trusts Andersen, their No. 1 goalie, but didn’t know what to expect after a long layoff from the serious health issue.

“Everyone was a little nervous for him,” Aho said. “He looks very calm, as always. It’s huge for us. He’s one of the best goalies in the world and we’re happy to have him.”

Skjei needed just 66 seconds to get the Hurricanes on the scoreboard in the first period. His shot from the point, through three Toronto players, went under Woll’s glove and into the net. Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook assisted.

Aho made it 2-0 on the power play at 13:55 in the first. His wrist shot from the left circle bounced in off of the skate of Toronto defenceman Jake McCabe. Jake Guentzel and Burns picked up assists.

Aho had a hat trick in Friday’s 7-6 shootout loss to the Capitals. He leads Carolina with 31 goals.

Carolina nearly had two more goals in the first period. Woll stopped a penalty shot by Guentzel at 9:41, and two minutes later a shot by Martin Necas clanged off the post.

“We came out ready to start and got a good lead and I thought we could have made it bigger,” Andersen said. “ (Woll) played really well down there and kept them in it and obviously gave them a chance.”

Andersen was at his best against his former team in the second period. He made a point-blank stop on Toronto star Auston Matthews at 6:14.

A failed clearing attempt by Andersen led to a prime chance for Matthews from the right circle, but Andersen was able to get his glove on the shot.

Timothy Liljegren had a shot on the Toronto power play at the end of the second period that Andersen was able to block.

Robertson cut Carolina’s lead to 2-1 at 8:51 in the third period. He scored off a pass from Matthews from the slot and beat Andersen.

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: Host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

Hurricanes: Visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

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