The talent of Tim

Well, at least one person will have cause to look back fondly at Tuesday night's yawnfest at ACC.

In a game that was poorly played by the home side, against a weak visitor barely hanging on for dear life, Tim Connolly scored two goals 4:58 apart to secure a 2-1 overtime victory for the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Carolina Hurricanes. By virtue of the fact the game managed to get to overtime, it was - at least for the home side - an exciting finish. But fans had to sit through a lot of really dull hockey to get to that finish.

The Leafs will take the two points and Connolly, most certainly, will take the two goals.

"I don't get too many two-goal nights," Connolly said. "I had a few plays where I was just trying to throw it to the net and (Carolina goalie Cam) Ward was doing a great job. We were fortunate to come out of it with two points by just staying patient and getting pucks to the net."

The Leafs did indeed get pucks to the net, out-shooting the woeful Hurricanes 38-19, but they did not produce as many quality scoring chances as they probably would have liked. The Hurricanes, after all, entered the game 28th overall in the standings with the worst goals-against average in the NHL. And although Ward is a fine young goaltender who has a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP on his resume, he has not played to his potential this season.

Connolly, meanwhile, has been very good. When he has been healthy, the 30-year-old Syracuse, NY, native has provided the Maple Leafs with some very solid two-way play. He is known as more of an offensive player, and to watch him dangle with the puck is truly delightful, but with the Leafs he is equally as solid and responsible in his own zone.

The two goals against the Hurricanes give him six goals and 15 points in 18 games - not bad for a player who does not skate on the club's top line.

After scoring a goal that gave Toronto a temporary 1-0 lead at 15:46 of the third period, a tip-in on a Clarke MacArthur direct to the net, Connolly said he had no premonition whatsoever that he'd follow that up with the eventual game-winner.

"I'm just going out there and trying to do what I can to help the team," Connolly said. "Army (linemate Colby Armstrong) told me that I was going to go out and get it so maybe I can give the credit to him."

Is that true, uh, Army?

"I did," Armstrong said with a rare look of seriousness about him; quickly followed by, "Ha ha ha!

"Right before we went on the ice I said he'd get another one. Once you get that one, you get the confidence going. Good on him, He's a beauty."

Connolly's teammates have been impressed by his contribution this season, having joined Toronto from the Buffalo Sabres last summer as an unrestricted free agent. He has been out of the lineup twice with injuries, but his level of commitment and compete, when healthy, has been very noticeable.

"He's a heck of a player who does a lot of things that go unnoticed," Armstrong said. "He's known as a skill guy, but he back-checks; he blocks shots and he makes good plays all over the ice, whether it's in our end or the offensive zone. For him to get those goals for us is huge! It's great to play with him. He opens a lot of stuff up out there. I thought he deserved a game like that the way he was going."

Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf, who played in his 500th career game, was pleased to see his new teammate deliver.

"I think it's great to see him get rewarded," Phaneuf said. "I've got nothing but good things to say about Tim Connolly and the way he plays. It was unfortunate that he was injured early, but he's a guy who works extremely hard behind the scenes. Not a lot of people see that, but we, as players, see it because we're behind those doors. A lot of stuff that he does shows he's a true professional and a guy who works extremely hard; not only in practice, but off the ice, too."

The Leafs dominated the game territorially, as one might have expected given the fact the Hurricanes really aren't very good plus they were without their top scorer, last season's rookie of the year Jeff Skinner. But, for as much as the Leafs said they would take this game seriously, they were very lackadaisical when it came to handling the puck. In fact, they finished the game with 22 giveaways. That, in itself, kept things close.

For a while it looked like a game the Leafs might control, but ultimately lose to a weaker opponent. The mere fact the Hurricanes were able to hang tight for so long had to be encouraging to them, and discouraging to the Leafs. Connolly made sure that didn't happen when he drove to the net and banged home a Joffrey Lupul rebound 44 seconds into overtime.

"He had two cracks at the winner; late in the third period and in overtime," said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. "He has played really well. Tonight he was good in all areas of the game. When he was on the ice we did a good job killing penalties and he did a lot of good things 5-on-5. He has done all the things we thought he could do and it doesn't matter who he plays with. He tries to make people around him better. Over his career, when he's healthy, he's been a very good player and that's the goal here, to try to keep him healthy. He doesn't have to play too much. He plays 15-16 minutes."

On a night when he played just a smidgen more than that, 17:09 to be exact, Connolly was the difference between winning and losing.

It was his welcome to Toronto game.

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy will cover the Toronto Maple Leafs for sportsnet.ca for the 2011/12 season.