The Hurricanes (42-12-8, 92 points) bolstered their lead atop the Metropolitan Division standings with a win Tuesday, while the Atlantic Division's second-place Maple Leafs (39-17-8, 86 points) and third-place Lightning (38-21-5, 81 points) both picked up victories to keep pace.
* Two goals from defensemen and a tying tally in the final five minutes of regulation by Jesper Fast helped Carolina earn its 20th road win of 2022-23 - the Hurricanes required the fewest games in franchise history to record both 20 road and 20 home wins in a season (62 GP), surpassing their previous best achieved last season (66 GP).
* After giving up a 1-0 and 2-1 lead, Toronto rallied in the third period with Auston Matthews potting his fifth career go-ahead tally in the final five minutes of a contest - tied for the second most among all players since he entered the NHL in 2016-17, behind only David Pastrnak (7). It also marked Matthews' 51st career game-winning goal, moving him past Ron Ellis (50) for sole possession of fourth place on the Maple Leafs' all-time list.
* Nikita Kucherov (2-1-3) factored on three of five Lightning goals to extend his home point streak to 22 games, boost his 2022-23 totals to 25-66-91 (64 GP) and register his third career 90-point season (2017-18: 39-61-100 & 2018-19: 41-87-128). Kucherov sits third in the NHL's Art Ross Trophy race in 2022-23 but only sits four assists shy of Connor McDavid (70 in 65 GP) for the most among all players.