"I was able to some speed in behind our net and I felt like I could get a step on their guy and get past him," Staal said. "In 3-on-3, once you get a step on a guy there's going to be an opportunity. I was able to get across their blue line and I saw [Faulk] was open, so I gave the puck to him. He is a guy who has a great shot, so when he shoots it's either going in or there is going to be a rebound. The rebound bounced right to me and I was able to put it in."
Carolina (21-19-8) ended a two-game losing streak and got 11 of a possible 14 points in its past seven games.
"The big story has been the young defensemen we have and the way they have played," Staal said. "We've got a lot of guys who can move the puck and can skate as well. It makes it easier for the forwards. It's a lot less demanding playing in our own end. You don't have to worry about playing defense as much."
Hurricanes goalie Eddie Lack made 32 saves; Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer made 40. Lack is the Hurricanes starter with Cam Ward on injured reserve with a concussion.
Lack lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-0 on Sunday.
"Obviously I wasn't happy with my game the other night and I wanted to have a good bounce-back performance," he said. "I needed to get back on track and I felt that I saw the puck well today. It was fun playing against [Reimer]; I thought he had a really good game as well. I am extremely happy we got the two points in the end."
Toronto (17-20-8) has lost six of its past seven.
Center Tyler Bozak had the Maple Leafs' best scoring chance of the game three minutes into the second period when he slithered his way through the defense and took a shot from in tight that Lack turned aside.
Staal drove hard to the Toronto net on a Carolina power play and hit the post with his shot from in tight. Toronto recovered the puck and Michael Grabner broke in alone on Lack but shot right at the goalie.
Toronto lost five games in a row before defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday.
"I thought they worked hard and I thought we worked hard," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "I thought they were better in the first 10 minutes, we were better in the next 30 minutes, and they were better in the third period. They skate better than we do. They have more guys that skate. I thought their kids were really good on the back end. You have to be really excited if you are the Hurricanes; they have four kids that look like they can play."
Toronto has eight goals in its past seven games.
"I thought our goaltending was real good, but I didn't think we were as dangerous around their net as we should have been," Babcock said. "In the end, they found a way to make a play and we didn't. We're not scoring on our power play (0-for-2 Thursday), so we're going to have to fix it. We weren't very good on the power play in our morning skate. There was no sense of urgency on it, so we'll have to get it fixed."
Toronto right wing Brad Boyes played his 800th NHL game.
