RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Teams have unwritten rules. The Carolina Hurricanes broke one Thursday night in a 2-2 tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

	Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph makes one of his 25 saves against the Hurricanes.

"There is a golden rule in our locker room that it's never good to give up one (goal) in the first two minutes or the last two minutes," Jeff O'Neill said of Garry Valk's first goal of the season with 1:23 left in regulation that tied the score.

"They've got great offensive players and they made the great play on us. A 2-2 tie is not going to crumble our confidence."

O'Neill's goal with 13:46 left looked as if it would stand before Valk took a centering pass from the corner from Sergei Berezin and beat Arturs Irbe between the legs with a soft shot from the slot.

"I had an open net in the second period too that I could have made it 2-0," Valk said. "I felt bad that I didn't put that one in. It was nice that I got a chance to play at the end of the period to make amends."

The Hurricanes improved to 5-1-4 in their last 10 to move within one point of the Florida Panthers for first place in the Southeast Division.

"It's always in the back of your head," Carolina's Bates Battaglia said of a chance to tie the Panthers. "We have to worry more about ourselves than them."

Northeast Division-leading Toronto started the season 9-3-1, but is 5-6-3 over its last 14, going winless in its last six road games (0-4-2).

Carolina hasn't won an overtime game since last January, going 0-2-18 over its last 20.

"They are very quiet in there," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "It would be as close to walking into a loss as you'll find in the room. It wasn't like we were hanging on for dear life. We were carrying the play."

O'Neill's ninth of the season came with Valk off for holding and was on the heels of his four-point night Tuesday. He picked the puck out of the air in the slot after getting a pass from Ron Francis from behind the net and beat Curtis Joseph high.

Carolina limited Toronto to four shots through the opening 26 minutes, bottling up one of the league's top offenses. But the Maple Leafs got back on track midway through the second period.

A shot from the point by Cory Cross was blocked in front by several players jostling for position. However, the puck dropped right on the stick of Dmitri Khristich, who beat a screened Irbe for his seventh goal of the season.

Carolina tied it 1-1 late in the second, scoring in the final 15 seconds of the middle period for the second straight game. This time, a Toronto giveaway led to the tip-in shot by Gary Roberts. It was Roberts' fourth of the season and first in eight games.

Defenseman Sean Hill assisted on both of Carolina's goals, giving him eight points in his last five games.

The Hurricanes, who lead the NHL in fewest penalties and penalty minutes, held Toronto scoreless on two power-play attempts, running their home streak to 29 without allowing a goal a man down.

Carolina also played the final 15:50 without top defenseman Glen Wesley, who left the game with a knee injury, which Maurice said was not serious.