NHL

• Blake, Leafs hand Hurricanes 11th straight defeat

  
  

  Raleigh, NC (Sports Network) - Jason Blake's goal late in the third period lifted the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 win and extended Carolina's losing streak to 11 games.

  Nikolai Kulemin and John Mitchell each had a goal while Jonas Gustavsson made 34 saves for the Maple Leafs, who won for just the second time in 14 games this season.

  Sergei Samsonov and Brandon Sutter each had a goal while Cam Ward made 23 saves in the loss for the Hurricanes, who are suffering through the longest losing streak in franchise history.

  With the score tied in the third, Toronto took the lead on the power play. Lee Stempniak blasted a slap shot from the high slot that Ward stopped, but the rebound went back out front where Blake slammed it home with 8:24 to play.

  Carolina pulled Ward late in the contest for the extra attacker and a penalty with 21.6 seconds to play against the Maple Leafs made it a 6-on-4 Carolina got on the board just 7:51 into the first period as Sutter grabbed a loose puck in the slot and backhanded it into the right corner of the net.

  Later in the first, the Hurricanes made it a 2-0 game as Andrew Alberts blasted a shot on net from the left point that Gustavsson made a kick save on, but Samsonov was all alone in front and he swiped the rebound into the net with 2:38 left in the frame.

  The Maple Leafs came out of the intermission with tons of energy and cut into their deficit just 1:12 in as Mitchell's one-timer from the right point got past Ward.

  Later in the frame Toronto tied the game.

  Alexei Ponikarovsky got the puck near the Carolina end and banked it off the boards to get it into the zone. Ponikarovsky caught up to the puck and from the right side he backhanded a pass to the front of the net where Kulemin chipped it in with 12:37 to play in the second.

  Game Notes Carolina plays at Columbus on Saturday...The Maple Leafs host Detroit on Saturday...Carolina took three of four from Toronto last season...Toronto had lost its previous four games coming into the contest against Carolina, but recorded a point in each of those games as the team had two overtime and two shootout losses.

  11/06 21:39:47 ET