Alex Steeves has been one of the top players in the AHL all season.
On Saturday, he showed can do damage in the NHL.
Recalled from the Marlies this week, Steeves had his first career NHL goal and an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs held on to beat the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 6-3 on Saturday.
Depth was the name of the game for Toronto. Bottom-six forwards Pontus Holmberg and David Kampf also scored for Toronto, with Holmberg scoring twice.
Toronto scored three goals in the first seven minutes, including Steeves’ first to open the scoring, before the Leafs made it 4-0 prior to the first intermission.
Andrei Svechnikov, Jaccob Slavin and Shayne Gostisbehere scored in the second half of the third period to make it close, but the Leafs managed to escape with the win thanks to empty netters from Auston Matthews and Holmberg.
Matthews’ goal was the 389th of his career and he tied Darryl Sittler for second most in Leafs franchise history.
Steeves, 25, is fourth in AHL scoring this season with a league-leading 29 goals and 17 assists for 46 points in 40 games.
The undrafted Steeves had one assist in 11 career NHL games before Saturday.
The Leafs travel to Chicago to face the Blackhawks on Sunday.
