Carolina’s Phil Di Giuseppe did everything he could to stop Toronto wunderkind Auston Matthews from getting to the net, going so far as to hook the young Toronto rookie down to the ice.
It did not matter.
Matthews still found a way to put the puck in the back of the net.
Matthews scored a highlight-reel goal on a backhander as he was twirling down to the ice, while Connor Brown scored twice as the Maple Leafs beat the Hurricanes 4-0 on Sunday.
“When you’re getting hooked like that, to No. 1, keep your balance and, 2, find the puck and be able to push it,” Brown said of Matthews. “He’s an elite goalscorer for a reason.”
Jake Gardiner added a goal and two assists, while James van Riemsdyk had two assists and Curtis McElhinney made 37 saves for the Maple Leafs to earn his first shutout since January 2014.
Toronto snapped a two-game skid and jumped into the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with the win.
Brown opened the scoring 1 minute, 7 seconds into the second period when he redirected a bouncing pass from Van Riemsdyk over Carolina goalie Cam Ward’s shoulder into the upper corner of the net, the first of two times they would connect in that fashion.
Matthews doubled Toronto’s lead later in the period in jaw-dropping fashion.
The 19-year-old carried the puck in from the left side of the blue line toward the crease when Di Giuseppe hooked him, even losing his stick in the process.
As Matthews’ body turned away from the net as he began to spiral down, he flung his stick toward the net in midair and slid the loose puck between Ward’s pads just before he hit the ice.
“I had a good amount of speed going into it to carry me to the net and then just tried to sneak it in there,” Matthews said.
“Pretty lucky play, I guess,” he said.
His teammates attributed it to something other than luck.
“Just the strength, while he was falling, to score that goal, that was pretty impressive,” Gardiner said.
Gardiner and Brown finished the scoring with goals 1:59 apart in the third period.
McElhinney earned his first shutout with the Maple Leafs and the fifth of his career. He improved to 3-3 with Toronto since being claimed off waivers from Columbus last month.
“Right now, I feel pretty good in net and for the most part we’re getting results,” McElhinney said. “That’s the most important thing.”
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