Hurricanes at Maple Leafs
Despite concluding their five-game homestand with four consecutive victories, the Carolina Hurricanes still find themselves near the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings. Carolina, which occupies seventh place in the eight-team division, attempts to extend the winning streak to five when it begins a three-game road trip Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Hurricanes opened its string of home games with loss to Anaheim - their third straight defeat overall - but has bounced back with triumphs over Washington, San Jose, Montreal and Winnipeg, allowing a total of four goals during the run. Toronto is coming off a 2-1 setback in Montreal on Saturday but has won six of its nine contests this month. The Maple Leafs have been especially strong at home, posting a 7-2-0 record at Air Canada Centre while scoring at least six goals in four of their last five there - and each of their last three. William Nylander, who netted Toronto's lone tally against the Canadiens, has recorded six goals in 18 games after scoring the same amount in 22 contests last campaign and registered 14 points - one more than his total in 2015-16.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Carolina), TSN4 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (7-6-4): Cam Ward should receive much of the credit for Carolina's current surge, as he posted a 3-0-0 record with one shutout, a 1.01 goals-against average and a .964 save percentage in his last three starts en route to being named the NHL's Second Star of the Week. The 32-year-old former Conn Smythe Trophy winner has gone 5-1-2 with a 1.59 GAA and .944 save percentage since the start of November. Veteran journeyman Michael Leighton will serve as Ward's backup, as he was recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League after Eddie Lack was placed on injured reserve with a concussion, which he suffered during Monday's practice.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (8-7-3): James van Riemsdyk was kept in check by Montreal after registering four goals and two assists in his previous two games. The 27-year-old has yet to be kept off the scoresheet in consecutive contests this season and leads Toronto in both goals (eight) and points (17). Mitch Marner, the fourth-overall pick in the 2015 draft, trails van Riemsdyk by one point after recording six tallies and four assists in his last eight games while fellow 19-year-old rookie Auston Matthews - the first overall selection in June - has been held to three assists in his last 12 contests after notching 10 points in his first six NHL games.
OVERTIME
1. The Hurricanes entered Monday ranked first in the league on the penalty kill (91.3 percent) and bring a streak of 19 consecutive successful kills into Tuesday's contest.
2. Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev, Toronto's top two defensemen in average ice time, have combined to record 17 assists but have just one goal (Rielly) between them.
3. Carolina assigned D Ryan Murphy, who has recorded one assist and a minus-6 rating in four games this season, to Charlotte for conditioning.