TORONTO (AP) — Alex Steeves scored his first NHL goal as the Toronto Maple Leafs jumped out to an early lead and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3 Saturday night. Pontus Holmberg had two goals and an assist, John Tavares had a goal and an assist and David Kampf and Auston Matthews also scored for Toronto. Matthews and Holmberg had empty-net goals after Carolina closed within 4-3 in the third.
Holmberg was credited with his first goal after Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal accidentally put the puck in his own net. The 25-year-old Steeves, who leads the AHL with 29 goals, also had an assist in his 12th NHL game. Anthony Stolarz made 31 saves.
Shayne Gostisbehere and Andrei Svechnikov each had a goal and an assist, and Jaccob Slavin also scored for the Hurricanes. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 17 shots. Maple Leafs: Pockets of the Scotiabank Arena crowd booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the game, continuing a trend across Canada of jeering the American anthem in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and musings his country’s northern neighbor should become its “51st state.
” Hurricanes: Saturday marked exactly five years since the club was forced to use emergency backup goaltender David Ayres against Toronto when both their netminders went down injured. The 42-year-old Zamboni driver finished with eight saves in a stunning 6-3 victory. The Hurricanes finally started to push after Kampf’s 3-0 goal, but Stolarz was there to make a string of big saves.
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