Canes' Wallin delivers in OT

After blowing a 4-1 lead, Canes bailed out by veteran defenseman

TORONTO -- The Carolina Hurricanes first lost the momentum, then lost the lead, but they doggedly refused to lose the game.

Determined to do whatever it took to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canes regrouped after losing a three-goal lead, rekindled some energy, killed off some big penalties and won 5-4 in overtime Tuesday night.

Niclas Wallin's long blast at 1:52 of overtime won it, allowing Carolina to escape the Air Canada Centre with two points. The shot also gave Peter Laviolette his 239th career victory, tying him with former Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella for most NHL wins by a U.S.-born coach.

"If you're fortunate to be around long enough, you'll probably reach some milestones," Laviolette said. "But the big thing is the two points we got for the win and getting it done in overtime."

The Leafs, beaten 6-4 by the Hurricanes on Sunday in Raleigh, fell behind 4-1 after the first period. The Canes' new line of Tuomo Ruutu, Dwight Helminen and Chad LaRose clicked for two goals, Carolina added a power-play goal by Dennis Seidenberg and Ryan Bayda scored late in the period.

"We had a good start," said LaRose, who had a goal and assist. "But in the second period, we stood around and watched them. We were flat-footed."

The Leafs kept firing shots at Canes goalie Cam Ward -- 42 for the game, although none in OT -- and attacking. Mikhail Grabovski, who had two goals in Sunday's game, scored in the second and Mike Van Ryn added another as the surging Leafs pulled to 4-3.

When Grabovski struck again early in the third, on a shot from the high slot, it was 4-4 and Leafs fans were sensing a comeback win. And when Carolina's Anton Babchuk was called for a holding penalty at 6:12 of the period and then Tim Gleason flipped the puck into the stands for a delay-of-game penalty 47 seconds later, Toronto had a two-man advantage for 1:13.

But the Carolina defense was active and aggressive, and Ward steady and tough in net, and the Canes survived the threat, killing off both penalties.

"We should have won the game on the 5-on-3," Leafs coach Ron Wilson said.

Instead, the Canes, playing their eighth road game of the season, seemed to be rejuvenated and found some jump.

"It did give us some energy," Laviolette said. "I felt a little momentum left them. That settled things down."

In the overtime period, the Canes' fourth of the season, Carolina pushed the puck into the Toronto zone.

Ruutu found Wallin open inside the blue line and the veteran defenseman -- nicknamed "The Secret Weapon" by Canes fans -- unloaded his big shot against Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala.

"We got the puck deep and [Sergei] Samsonov got great traffic in front of the net," said Ruutu, who scored the game's first goal. "And Nic had a great shot."

Wilson was upset with his team, saying a "complete breakdown" led to the winning goal.

"We had defensemen chasing people behind the net and out of position and their guy shoots the puck through a screen," Wilson said.

Wallin, chosen the game's first star, took it all in stride.

"I was wide open and just shot the puck," he said. "We had a good first period, and the second period was awful.

"In the third period, we battled and killed that 5-on-3."

And won.

"We got lucky," Wallin said, smiling. "We got two points."