TORONTO – Mitch Marner set a new career high for points in a game with a goal and three assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Carolina Hurricanes 8-1 on Tuesday afternoon.
Leo Komarov, James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Patrick Marleau, Kasperi Kapanen, William Nylander and Connor Carrick also scored for the Maple Leafs (21-13-1), who snapped a three-game slide.
Frederik Andersen made 32 saves for the win while Bozak matched Marner by adding three assists.
Jeff Skinner scored for the Hurricanes (14-12-7) as Scott Darling stopped 27 shots in defeat.
READ MORE: Own goal sinks Edmonton Oilers in spirited game against Maple Leafs
Tuesday’s rare 2 p.m. ET start was scheduled by the league to kick off the second century of NHL hockey. The first NHL games were played on Dec. 19, 1917, including a 10-9 win by the Montreal Wanderers over Toronto.
The Leafs faced Carolina in commemorative jerseys with “Arenas,” an early name for the team, on the front.
Toronto was playing its fifth straight game without star centre Auston Matthews because of an upper-body injury. The Leafs are 6-3-0 without him in the lineup.
The Leafs offence had mustered just four goals in their last four games before exploding against the Hurricanes.
Toronto went up early and had a comfortable three-goal lead after 20 minutes.
READ MORE: Wendel Clark banner raised in Kelvington part of Toronto Maple Leafs tour
A turnover at the Leafs blue line turned into Toronto’s first short-handed goal of the season, as Komarov chose to keep the puck in transition on a 2-on-1 and beat Darling upstairs 2:52 into the game. It was his fourth goal of the season and first in nine games.
It didn’t take long for the Leafs to double their lead as Marner skated over the Carolina blue line on a power play and beat Darling with a wrist shot from the top of the circle at 5:33, ending a 15-game goal drought with his third of the season.
Skinner cut Toronto’s lead in half with a knuckler at 9:07 that eluded Andersen, but van Riemsdyk restored the two-goal lead for the Leafs just 1:27 later, putting home a rebound with the man advantage for his team-leading 16th of the season.
Marner, who picked up an assist on van Riemsdyk’s goal, kept on coming and created Bozak’s seventh goal of the year to make it 4-1 at 13:28, giving the 20-year-old a three-point period.
The second period belonged to Andersen, who came up big more than once to keep Toronto ahead.
READ MORE: Andersen stops 47 shots, Nylander scores shootout winner as Toronto Maple Leafs edge Calgary Flames
First he made a highlight-reel save midway through the period, sprawling out and getting the paddle down on Skinner to keep it a 4-1 game despite being tangled up with a Carolina skater at the same time.
Then he went post to post to stop a one-timer from Elias Lindholm with two minutes to go.
Marner set his new career high for points in a game when he assisted on Marleau’s 12th of the season at 9:25 of the third, then Kapanen added his second goal of the season only six seconds later to make it a five-goal cushion for the Leafs.
Nylander scored his sixth of the season with a snap shot glove side on Darling with just under six minutes to play, while Carrick added a power-play goal, his second of the season, with 1:27 to go.
Notes: Toronto defenceman Martin Marincin, who was recalled from AHL Marlies, was a healthy scratch alongside forward Josh Leivo.
Comments