Sports: Unlikely winner for Carolina

Wallin scored 13:42 into overtime Sunday, his second OT winner of the playoffs, as the Hurricanes beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 in Game 2 to tie the Eastern Conference final.

Wallin's OT goal in Game 4 of the semifinals at Montreal capped a comeback from 3-0 down in a 4-3 win and kept Carolina from falling behind 3-1 in that series.

Sunday's winner helped the Hurricanes avoid a two-game hole heading to Toronto for Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series.

"Our secret weapon got one for us again," captain Ron Francis said of Wallin, a healthy scratch in 29 games during the regular season.

Wallin is starting because of an injury to regular David Tanabe.

"It's so great for him," Francis said. "This guy has hung in there. A lot of nights he didn't have a job in our lineup and he had to sit on the side and work hard in practice."

Wallin's came shot from 30 feet, with Bates Battaglia creating traffic in front of Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph.

His shot appeared to hit the leg of a Toronto defenseman before it went between Joseph's pads.

"It was a lucky goal, but in overtime games are often decided by a lucky goal," said Jonas Hoglund, who had the deciding goal in Toronto's 2-1 win in Game 1.

"In practice I can score some goals, but in game time I never get the shots," Wallin said. "Now I have two overtime goals. It's just unbelievable."

Toronto's Alyn McCauley tied it with 7.4 seconds left in the third.

Bret Hedican scored his second postseason goal, first this year, with 12:29 left to give Carolina a 1-0 lead.

He took a pass from Martin Gelinas and faked a shot from the left circle, which drew Joseph out of his net and out of position.

Hedican then pulled the puck back, made a move that froze Joseph and snapped it in from a sharp angle as the record Entertainment and Sports Arena crowd of 18,924 erupted.

But the Hurricanes couldn't score with a two-man advantage of 1:20, and Erik Cole had the puck roll off his stick on a breakaway with 4:37 left.

Toronto pulled Joseph for an extra attacker with 1:22 left and had several good shots stopped by goalie Arturs Irbe before one last rush.

McCauley ruined what would have been Irbe's first postseason shutout in 42 games by drilling a high shot from the slot into the net.

Game 3 is Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre.

The Maple Leafs expected to get a lift from the return of injured captain Mats Sundin, who missed 12 games, and other regulars Darcy Tucker (shoulder), Tie Domi (leg) and defenseman Jyrki Lumme (concussion).

But Toronto had 10 shots through two periods and was outshot 33-27 overall, and Sundin appeared unable to shoot with his injured left wrist.

The four injured players made their appearance together 21/2 minutes in, the three forwards forming Toronto's fourth line.

Several thousand flag-waving Toronto fans drove to North Carolina to watch and tickets were being scalped outside the arena for up to $1,000 each in this suddenly hockey-crazed city.

The Hurricanes sold 194 standing-room only tickets for $110 each. The mix of fans created an electric atmosphere.

TONIGHT:

Avalanche at Red Wings, 7, ESPN. Detroit leads Western Conference final 1-0.

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