By: Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
Posted: 8:43 PM CDT Friday, Mar. 20, 2026
TORONTO – Alexander Nikishin scored 41 seconds into overtime as the Carolina Hurricanes downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Friday.
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TORONTO – Alexander Nikishin scored 41 seconds into overtime as the Carolina Hurricanes downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Friday.
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TORONTO – Alexander Nikishin scored 41 seconds into overtime as the Carolina Hurricanes downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Friday.
Eric Robinson, on a penalty shot, K’Andre Miller and Jordan Staal had the other goals for Carolina (44-19-6). Brandon Bussi made 23 saves. Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho had two assists apiece.
John Tavares, William Nylander and Dakota Joshua replied for Toronto (29-28-13), which got 32 stops from Joseph Woll. Matias Maccelli added two assists.
Carolina Hurricanes centre Sebastian Aho (20) and Maple Leafs forward Max Domi (11) battle for the puck in Toronto on Friday, March 20, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan
Nikishin scored the winner in the extra period when he ripped a shot beyond Woll’s blocker.
The Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes entered Friday third in the NHL’s overall standings and first in the Eastern Conference.
The severely underperforming Maple Leafs, meanwhile, sat 26th out of 32 teams, second-last in the East and at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.
TAKEAWAYS
Hurricanes: Aho became the third player to hit at least 70 points in five seasons with the Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers. Ron Francis (11) and Eric Staal (seven) top the list.
Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews underwent surgery on his left MCL in New York on Thursday. Toronto’s captain was injured last week after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas. The Maple Leafs said the recovery time for Matthews is expected to be 12 weeks.
KEY MOMENT
Robinson scored on a second-period penalty shot after being hooked on a breakaway by Maple Leafs defenceman Troy Stecher. The Carolina winger moved in on Woll as a sleepy Scotiabank Arena came to life, and fired his 12th goal of the campaign past the netminder’s glove.
KEY STAT
Benoit-Olivier Groulx picked up an assist on the opening goal to give him a point in three straight home games since joining Toronto. Five other players in the past 20 years have had a run of at least that length to start their time with the Original Six franchise: Eric Lindros (six games in 2005-06), Mike Van Ryn (five games in 2008-09), Ron Hainsey (four games in 2017-18), Michael Bunting (three games in 2021-22) and Nikita Zaitsev (three games in 2016-17).
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
Hurricanes: Visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2026.
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