RALEIGH, N.C. – Brandon Sutter had two third-period goals and rookie Jeff Skinner scored his 18th of the season to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
Skinner scored on a power-play rebound with 8:58 remaining, giving the Hurricanes a 5-3 lead, and Erik Cole's empty-netter in the final minute sealed the victory.
Tim Brent scored two third-period goals for the Maple Leafs, who got within one at 5-4 on Mike Brown's power-play tally with 5:45 to go.
After going 16 games without a goal, Sutter has now scored three in his past three games.
His 10th of the season broke a tie at three, halting a Toronto rally and giving Carolina 13 points in eight January home games. The Hurricanes improved to 16-0-0 when holding the lead after two periods and 7-0-1 when Sutter scores a goal.
Brent's goals tied the score at three early in the third period. He scored first on a backhander over Cam Ward's left shoulder then added a shorthanded goal with 15:31 remaining.
Brent took a long slap pass from Dion Phaneuf and came in on the right side. He faked a shot and Ward lunged, and Brent put the puck into an open net from a wide angle for the tie.
Jamie McBain of Carolina broke a 1-1 tie with a long slap shot midway through the second period. His shot deflected off defenseman Mike Komisarek's stick and over the right shoulder of Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
Notes: Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason was given a game misconduct after first-period scuffle with Nikolai Kulemin. ... Skinner leads all rookies in points, with 40 in 49 games. ... Toronto fell to 2-21-2 when trailing after two periods. ... Ward had 26 saves for Carolina, and Giguere had 22 for the Maple Leafs.
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