Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews scores twice, leaves 4-3 OT victory after hard hit

TORONTO -- Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews left a 4-3 overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricaneson Monday night after a hard hit along the boards in the third period.

With less than a minute remaining in the third, Matthews got tangled up with Carolina forward Nino Niederreiter and crashed into the end boards. Matthews held his head after the incident and went to the dressing room to be examined.

The Maple Leafs' leading scorer posted two goals vs. the Hurricanes, giving him 31 on the season, before the injury. Matthews was playing on a quick turnaround after participating in the NHL's All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas.

"No word. We'll give it some time here to settle down and assess him properly," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said in his postgame availability. "I had him taking a scheduled day off [Tuesday] anyway, coming back from the All-Star Game. That will give even more time for him to get assessed and make a determination from there."

Mitch Marner scored the tying goal late in the third and then notched the winner 2:51 into overtime to secure the win for Toronto. John Tavares and Morgan Rielly each had two assists as the Maple Leafs posted their sixth straight win. Petr Mrazek stopped 28 shots to improve to 6-2-0 this season, defeating his former team.

"A lot of really good things today in the game," Keefe said. "It is not an easy team to play against."

The Maple Leafs will open a three-game road trip against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.