Hurricanes 4, Maple Leafs 1: Captain Eric Staal scored a pair of goals as host Carolina sent skidding Toronto to its fifth consecutive defeat.

Brad Malone and Elias Lindholm tallied 41 seconds apart in the opening period as the Hurricanes improved to 6-1-2 in their last nine games. Jordan Staal notched two assists and Anton Khudobin turned aside 34 shots to win his fifth consecutive start.

Nazem Kadri's power-play goal with 5:11 to play in the third helped the Maple Leafs avoid being blanked for the fourth time during their five-game skid. Jonathan Bernier gave up three goals on 13 shots before giving way to James Reimer (18 saves) for Toronto, which dipped to 1-8-0 in its last nine contests.

Patrick Dwyer's sharp-angle shot off the right wing was kicked out to Malone, who buried the rebound 7:06 into the contest to open the scoring. Lindholm quickly doubled the lead, breaking in alone on Bernier and slipping a backhander between his pads.

The Hurricanes made it 3-0 just 48 seconds into the middle session as Jordan Staal slid a pass to his unmarked brother, who spun and converted a backhander to end Bernier's night. Kadri scored just the second goal in five games for the Maple Leafs on a wrister from the left faceoff circle, but Eric Staal added an empty-net tally to seal it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Eric Staal collected his eighth goal in the last 11 games to boost his team-high total to 15. ... Bernier lost his fourth consecutive start - three of which have been shutout defeats for the Maple Leafs, who have been outscored 16-2 during the five-game slide. ... Carolina snuffed out three power plays before Kadri converted, snapping its streak of 36 consecutive penalties killed.