Kallgren shines again, Maple Leafs down Hurricanes

TORONTO — Erik Kallgren made 35 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Thursday for the rookie goaltender’s second straight victory.

Mitch Marner, Ilya Mikheyev and Ondrej Kase scored for Toronto (39-17-5), which was again minus NHL goal leader Auston Matthews as he served the second of a two-game suspension.

Ethan Bear and Vincent Trocheck replied for Carolina (41-14-5). Frederik Andersen stopped 18 shots.

Called up from the minors last week with Leafs No. 1 netminder Jack Campbell out because of a rib injury, Kallgren got his second NHL start in place of the scuffling Petr Mrazek after shutting out the Dallas Stars 4-0 on Tuesday.

All the 25-year-old Swede’s done in his short time on the job is steady a Toronto crease that had been a major issue since Jan. 1 as the Leafs put in their second consecutive solid defensive effort.

Kallgren’s only goal against in his three appearances before Bear scored in Thursday’s third period was in relief of Mrazek in Toronto’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Arizona Coyotes on March 10 with the teams playing 3 on 3.

Toronto, which lost 4-1 on the road to Carolina in October before beating the Hurricanes 4-3 at home last month, was under intense pressure early Tuesday as the visitors registered 11 of the game's first 12 shots, but Kallgren was once again there at every turn, including a nice stop off Trocheck on a 2-on-1.

The Leafs opened the scoring against the run of play with 4:12 left in the period when Mikheyev took a pass from Justin Holl and beat a leaning Andersen on the shortside with a backhand for his 12th goal of the season.

Kallgren, who made 35 saves Tuesday to become fourth goalie in franchise history to register a shutout in his first NHL