Marner stays hot, gives Maple Leafs OT victory against Hurricanes

TORONTO --Mitchell Marner scored at 2:51 of overtime after tying it late in the third period for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who won their sixth straight game with a 4-3 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.

Marner won it after Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen kicked him the rebound of Morgan Rielly's shot while falling down.
Marner has scored 10 goals during his eight-game goal streak, which is the longest in Toronto history since John Anderson had a 10-game streak in 1984-85.
"It was a bit of a crazy game there, taking the lead, getting the lead taken from us, and then coming back to tie that game," Marner said. "Just the work ethic, the battle we had tonight, it was something we talked about wanting to do more of going into the second half, and tonight was a great night to kind of start that."
Auston Matthews also scored twice for the Maple Leafs (30-10-3), who are 12-2-1 in their past 15 games. Petr Mrazek, who played the previous three seasons with the Hurricanes, made 28 saves in his first game against his former team.
"It's always a little special (facing an old team)," Mrazek said. "A lot of people have asked me about that, but I think of it as just another team, another game. Just try to prepare as best you can to get the win."

Tony DeAngelo had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes (31-9-3), who had won four in a row. Andersen, who played the previous five seasons for the Maple Leafs, made 28 saves in his return to Toronto.
"I think it's tough to get too emotional in these circumstances," Andersen said. "It was nice of them to kind of say thanks for the time here, and then I moved on and focused on the game again. It's a little bit weird, but eventually the game has to come first, so it was back to focusing on that."
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said he had no complaints about his team despite surrendering a third-period lead.
"It was a good game," he said. "I thought we played well. I'm not disappointed at all in our effort or anything. Obviously, you'd love the two points, but for not having any power plays, I just thought we created a lot of offense, especially in the second period, where we had four or five breakaways and 2-on-1's that we didn't cash in on and it could have been a different game there.
"Give the players credit on both teams. It's a dead building and these guys played hard tonight. I thought it was a good game."

The game was played in front of 500 fans because of the COVID-19 restrictions in place in Ontario.
Matthews left the game with 42 seconds remaining in the third period after he was hit in the head by Brett Pesce's knee while falling back into the boards. He remained on the ice for several minutes but skated off under his own power.
"No word really," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We'll have some time to settle down and assess him properly. I actually had him taking a scheduled day off tomorrow anyway. He's coming back from the All-Star Game, so that will give even more time for him to get assessed and make a determination from there."
Nino Niederreiter put Carolina ahead 1-0 at 13:08 of the first period when he redirected a centering pass from Ian Cole in the slot.
Matthews scored his 30th of the season tied it 1-1 at 16:16 of the second period, jamming in a loose puck in the crease during a power play.
Matthews then gave Toronto a 2-1 lead at 19:37 with a one-timer in the high slot off a pass from Rielly.
DeAngelo scored eight seconds into the third period to tie it 2-2, shooting blocker side on Mrazek from just above the right face-off dot.
Derek Stepan made it 3-2 at 9:23, knocking in a rebound near the left post, but Marner tied it 3-3 at 14:12 when he was left all alone in front and put in a rebound after Andersen mishandled Timothy Liljegren's shot from the point.
"Obviously disappointed," Andersen said. "I thought we played a really good game, and I thought I had a good game up until that play I mishandled. Obviously, [stinks] giving them one of those and then eventually lose the game. Hurts a little bit, but I'm sure we'll get over it and move on to the next one."

Keefe said he was pleased with how the Maple Leafs responded after giving up the lead.
"A lot of really good things today in the game," Keefe said. "It's not an easy team to play against, they make it really hard on you to break out, get through the neutral zone and play on offense. I really liked how we stuck with our game."
NOTES: DeAngelo's goal was two seconds shy of the fastest to start a period in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history, set by Jordan Martinook on Dec. 31, 2018. … The Maple Leafs reached 30 wins in 43 games, the fastest in their history. … Matthews has scored at least 30 goals in six straight seasons to begin his career.