By The Associated Press

TORONTO — 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. Nylander then set up Tavares moments later to stretch the home team’s lead to four goals.

Brent Burns skated in his 900th consecutive game, dating to Nov. 21, 2013. The Carolina defenseman is the sixth player in NHL history to accomplish the feat.

Up next

The Maple Leafs open a four-game trip Sunday at Chicato. The Hurricanes are at Montreal on Tuesday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Source: wralsportsfan.com