NHL Playoffs: Hurricanes win at home, Maple Leafs extend lead over Bruins

Carolina snapped a 10-year home playoff drought and Toronto managed to win despite Nazem Kadri’s suspension.

The Carolina Hurricanes went into Monday night’s Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff matchup against the defending Stanley Cup champions Washington Capitals with a 2-0 deficit, finding themselves in a must-win situation in order to keep their postseason hopes alive.

The only problem? It had been 10 years since the Hurricanes had won a playoff game at home. That ignominious streak broke on Monday, though, with Carolina pulling off a 5-0 defeat of Washington, putting the series at 2-1 in the Capitals’ favor.

Carolina rookie forward Warren Foegele notched two goals and one assist, Dougie Hamilton scored two goals on power plays, Brock McGinn had a goal and an assist while Jaccob Slavin added two assists. Goalie Petr Mrazek had 18 saves in the shutout win, while Carolina’s offense had 45 shots on Capitals’ Braden Holtby. It was the Capitals’ first shutout loss in the postseason since 2007.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Maple Leafs earned a 3-2 home win over the Boston Bruins, extending their lead 2-1 in the series. For Toronto, Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist. Andreas Johnsson also added an assist and a goal and Trevor Moore had one goal. Charlie Coyle and David Krejci each scored goals for Boston. Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen had 34 saves on the night; his Boston counterpart, Tuekka Rask, had 31 saves.

Toronto’s win comes on the heels of its center, Nazem Kadri, being handed a five-game suspension on Monday, costing him the remainder of the series with Boston, if not the potential next series. He was punished for a crosscheck-to-the-face on the Bruins’ Jake DeBrusk in Game 2 of the quarterfinals. His absence didn’t hurt Toronto too much on Monday night, but with games still to be played, the loss of their top player could start producing effects.