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| Carolina Hurricanes vs. Toronto Maple Leafs - pregame - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting LLC |
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The Carolina Hurricanes host the Toronto Maple Leafs at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. on Thursday.
The Hurricanes return home after a successful 12-day road trip, finishing with a 4-1-1 record.
The Leafs are on a four-game win streak, most recently having beaten the Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal Canadiens, Winnipeg Jets, and Washington Capitals.
Carolina got the better of Toronto during the two teams' first meeting on Feb. 4 when the Hurricanes beat the Leafs 4-1.
The Hurricanes lead the all-time series between both teams with a 55-33-12-1 record.
Puck drop in 5 minutes.
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1st Period
- First minute of play has both teams gaining the zone at each end but with no real scoring attempts while coaches work to match lines
- Toronto gets a good sequence of passes together with a shot on Ellis, who handles it easily
- At 17:55, Carolina's Kevin Westgarth and Toronto's Colton Orr square off to get the Valentine's Day wishes taken care of - they both get five minutes for fighting and the hockey game gets set to begin
- Another two minutes of play in the neutral zone as both teams still trying to set up their offenses
- Jussi Jokinen, Tim Wallace, and Drayson Bowman work hard to keep the puck in the Leafs zone and Scrvens smothers the puck for a faceoff
- Still tied 0-0 with 13:49 to go
- Leo Komorav gets a shot on but Ellis turns it away and the puck goes out of play
- The Leafs ice the puck while Jeff Skinner-Jordan Staal-Pat Dwyer line keeps the pressure in the Toronto zone
- Wallace-Jokinen-Bowman line keeps the pressure on the Leafs end
- Carolina's second checking line - Andeas Nodl-Tim Brent-Westgarth
- Clarke MacArthur gets a shot off on Ellis on a quick transition and he makes another save
- Skinner gets two good shots on Scrivens as he and JStaal and Dwyer hover around the Leafs net - still 0-0 with 10 minutes to play
- Faceoff to Scrivens' left and Toronto manages to get it out but Semin takes a slashing penalty trying to check James Van Riemsdyk and the Leafs go on the power play at 9:33
- Carolina sends the puck down to the other end as the PK does its work during the first 30 seconds
- John-Michael Liles rings one off the post above Ellis' right shoulder
- Eric Staal works to get a chance for a SH goal but Scrivens makes the save with 30 seconds left on Semin's penalty
- Carolina kills the penalty off and the Leafs ice it again and the faceoff is to Scrivens' left
- Leafs clear the puck out and then the Hurricanes change directions and go the other way
- Back and forth action here with 6:17 left in the period in a scorelesss game so far
- Semin-Staal-Tlusty cycling the puck on both sides of Scrivens and the Leafs ice it again
- Another sequence of play and Toronto ices it again - interesting defensive play on the Leafs' part right now - trying to get line changes but content on relieving pressure that way
- Both teams focusing tight play in the neutral zone
- Leafs get an opportunity to get a shot on Ellis - Cody Franson from the blue line which is tipped and goes over the glass
- Nazem Kadri getting ample ice time but he gives it up in his end as Semin picks it from him and Carolina goes to work
- Big shift from Semin-Staal-Tlusty with a number of chances on Scrivens and defensemen Joe Corvo also has some looks but too many block shots and scrambly play can't bury the puck past the Leafs goalie
- Nickolai Kulemmin gets a shot on Ellis at the other end to get a faceoff in the Carolina zone
- Van Riemsdyk tries a backhand wraparound to Ellis' right and he covers it in the crease - less than a minute to play
- Great two minutes of play near the end of the period
- Toronto tries to keep the pressure on and then Carolina finishes with a shot on Scrivens to end the period
2nd Period
- Semin-Staal-Tlusty start the period and get the puck into the Leafs zone and keep it there for their entire shift, but Toronto's defense keeps them off balance - no good scoring chances
- Leafs get it down to the Carolina end and keeps up the pressure there before the Hurricanes clear it out
- Carolina looking very comfortable in moving the puck in transition as Toronto looks to contain the play in a conservative manner
- The Hurricanes continue to keep its tempo the same while the Leafs are still looking for the chance to catch a break on its intermittent forays into the Carolina zone
- Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk getting som chances on the rush
- Leafs barely surviving current barrage from Carolina
- Joe Corvo scores first goal of the game, shooting the puck over Scrivens' blocker shoulder after Eric Staal tried to come around to the goaltender's left and stumbled and slid the puck into the slot - Hurricanes lead 1-0 with 13:54 to play
- A sloppy play on the part of the Leafs defense with players falling all around
- Toronto gets control on the power play after Bobby Sanguinetti goes off for interference - Leafs rattle off three different shots and keep the pressure on
- After Dwyer dumps the puck into the Leafs end, Toronto gains the Carolina zone again
- Dion Phaneuf unleashes a shot from the point to Ellis' right and it deflects off Jamie McBain and then Nazem Kadri who was standing on the edge of the crease to tie the game at 7:51 into the period
- Kessel and Van Riemsdyk get a great chance on Ellis but he makes the save and then Jokinen and Wallace head the other way to buy some time before making a chance
- Leafs get the puck back in the Carolina zone and David Steckel tries to find the puck in his skates but can't get his stick on it
- Pace of play is picking up at both ends now
- Toronto looking more confident on its offense and opening up the ice which allows Carolina to move the puck
- Both teams trade great scoring opportunitiess at both ends keeping both goalies busy as their top lines show what they've got
- Leafs' Jay McClement trips Sanguinetti along the boards and the Hurricanes power play goes into action
- Corvo's point shot is deflected over the glass
- After the faceoff, Toronto dumps it down and Corvo brings it up and passes it to Skinner as he gains the blue line
- Skinner tries to get a shot off but it's blocked and the puck continues to slide towards the net in the slot with bodies battling for it
- Jokinen pulls it to the right of a sprawling Scrivens and scores the power play goal - Carolina leads 2-1 with 7:02 to play
- Both team's fourth lines on the ice now to give the two teams' top lines time to recover - yes - Orr and Westgarth are playing hockey now
- Affter Leafs get the puck into the Carolina zone, McBain gets a hold of it and pushes it up the right boards to Skinner
- Skinner gains the zone to Scrivens' left on a two-on-one and he shoots and the Toronto goalies makes a pad save that rebounds to JStaal on the other side who wrists it into the open net for Carolina's third goal of the period - 3-1 Hurricanes lead with 4:51 to play
- Westgarth-Brent-Nodl keeping Steckel, Van Riemsdyk, Orr at bay and keep the pressure on the Leafs
- Toronto gets the puck into the Carolina zone and get a shot on Ellis
- Skinner initiates another rush up the boards and into the Toronto zone with JStaal and Jay Harrison jumping into the play
- As he tries to shoot, Mark Fraser lays him out with a hit that has Skinner fly into the boards backwards and hitting his head
- Skinner rolls around and manages to get up as the play continues and he skates to the bench and seems okay
- James Van Riemsdy takes a penalty with 56.7 seconds to play andd gives Carolina another power play opporunity
- The Hurricanes can't get any clean shots on Scrivens and as the period ends, Phaneuf and Brent start tussling in the corner to Scrivens' right
- The officials break it up and both teams clear the ice for the intermission
- Another sellout crowd of 18,680 just announced
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3rd Period
- Carolina starts the period with a five-on-three power play
- Semin and EStaal on the point at the top of the circles while Skinner on Scrivens left post, Faulk to his right, and JStaal in the middle
- Next unit of Jokinen-Brent-Tlusty with McBain and Corvo at the points
- Scrivens is sharp and makes a sliding pad save to his left on Jokinen
- With 18 minutes to play, team's are back at even strength
- Skinner-JStaal-Dwyer cycling and keeping puck in Leafs zone
- As Carolina makes changes, they inadvertently ice it and the faceoff takes place to Ellis' left
- Carolina no holding off as JStaal out with Semin and Tlusty and the brother Eric comes on to finish the shift - playing four for the time of three it seems
- Toronto gets a a few opportunities around the Carolina net with Van Riemsdyk, Kessel and Bozek, but Corvo manages to get control of the puck and start the breakout
- Afer Toronto ices it, Carolina gets its fourth line out there to eat up some time and they do as Toronto can't gain any notable opportunities
- Toronto is continually chasing the puck as Semin-JStaal-Tlusty along with McBain and Corvo are keeping the Leafs and Scrivens busy in their zone
- Jokinen-Wallace-Bowman out now with Faulk and Harrison on the blue line set up for the faceoff to Scrivens' left
- Toronto breaks it out and gains the Carolina zone - MacArther, Grabovski and Kulemin buzzing around Ellis but the Hurricanes defense prevents them from doing any damage
- Kadri gets a shot on goal as Leafs make changes
- Skinner-JStaal-Dwyer out now to matchup with Kadri, McClement and Komarov - Leafs line applies pressure with no result - Carolina still leading 3-1 with 10:14 to play
- Semin intercepts a Toronto pass in the neutral zone, carries it over the blue line and wires a shot that Scrivens gets his right pad on before smothering it to get the faceoff
- Hurricanes ousthooting the Leafs 28-20 right now
- After Leafs try to get a shot on goal from the point, Semin treeis to outskate Kessel and Grabovski and fans on a shot towards Scrivens
- Hurrianes continue to smother Leafs in their end as JStaal, Dwyer and Bowman try to put one past the Toronto keeper - busy night for the Toronto keeper
- Hurricanes denying the Leafs any viable scoring opportunities while the crowd entertains itself by doing 'the wave'
- Toronto keeps making attempts to get shots on Ellis but as they move the puck around the Carolina zone, they keeping hitting Hurricanes defenders
- Carolina still in control of this one and frustrating Toronto on each subsequent possession into their end
- Both teams' top lines out now as they're going to leave it all on the ice with four minutes to play
- Kessel misses wide and Phaneuf tries to get another one on net but misses as Hurricanes still outshooting the Leafs 31-20 now
- Skinner-JStaal-Dwyer put more pressure on the defense
- After Toronto breaks it out, Toronto pulls Scrivens for the extra attacker but can't take advantage of it as JStaal flicks the puck down the ice
- Leafs ice it and the faceoff comes back down to Scrivens' left with 2:38 to play
- Bowman tries to feed Wallace in front but he fans on it and Jokinen tries to go to the net
- Leafs manage to get possession, break out and pull Scrivens out again and the take a shot wide while Van Riemsdyk is on the crease and the puck is cleared from the Carolina end
- Empty net for Toronto again
- The Leafs having a tough time gaining full possession in the Hurricanes end, but McBain ices it and Toronto tries another sequence with less that a minute to play - the Leaf get a few shots off but Ellis stands his ground
- Toronto still pressing and the Hurricanes clear it out and the play goes no farther than the neutral zone as the clock counts down
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