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Carolina Hurricanes Blow a Third Period Lead, Fall to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Shootout

By Brett Finger

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A tight-checking game in Raleigh ends in a Carolina Hurricanes shootout loss to the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

1. 109. 2. 116. Final

Scoring Summary

1st Period

No Goals

2nd Period

No Goals

3rd Period

CAR Goal (7:47) – Brad Malone (1), assisted by Justin Faulk (7), Kris Versteeg (9)

From a seemingly impossible angle, Brad Malone bounced the puck off of the pad of James Reimer and into the Toronto net. Maole shot the puck from underneath the goal line, the luck was on his side, and he registered his first goal of the season.

TOR PP Goal (16:27) – Nazem Kadri (2), assisted by Leo Komarov (4), James van Riemsdyk (4)

On the man advantage, Kadri was able to pick up a loose puck in the slot and rip it past Cam Ward. The tally ended Kadri’s 16-game goal-less streak and tied the game at 1 late in period 3.

Overtime

No Goals

Shootout

TOR Goal – Peter Holland

CAR Goal – Riley Nash

TOR Goal – Joffrey Lupul

Three Stars

1st Star – Nazem Kadri (TOR) – 1 goal, +1, 3 shots, 20:29 TOI

2nd Star – Brad Malone (CAR) – 1 goal, +1, 7 hits, 10:32 TOI

3rd Star – James Reimer (TOR) – 34 shots against, 33 saves

Recap

In a game dominated by neutral zone play and tight-checking action, a shootout was required to find a winner. Luckily for the road team, Joffrey Lupul sent the Leafs out of Raleigh with a 2-1 win in the skills competition.

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This game was largely controlled by the Carolina Hurricanes. They dictated play and even had a lead late in the third period, but a powerplay goal from Toronto in the dying minutes of the third period to force overtime and ultimately a shootout.

Again, the issue tonight for the Hurricanes was the scoring. They got a fluky goal in the third period, and that was it. Outside of that one goal, the club failed to get the puck past Reimer through 65 minutes. This offense ranks 28th in the NHL, and it’s games like this that’ll keep it that way.

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The story remains the same for this club. They can’t score, and there aren’t many signs that suggest that will change soon.

In their own end, the Carolina Hurricanes were very solid, and the defense was anchored by a solid outing from Cam Ward who stopped 24 of 25 shots.

Noah Hanifin and Justin Faulk led the way for the Canes defense on Friday. They both delivered some great efforts, and they were both big difference makers against a streaking Maple Leafs team.

Jaccob Slavin performed well in his NHL debut. He made some great, quick plays with the puck on his stick in his own zone and in tight areas. He made very few mistakes, and the slip ups he did have were not costly. This was a good first game for the 21-year-old, and it should lead to him gaining more confidence as he continues on in his career.

The standout player for Carolina on Friday was Brad Malone. Malone logged 10:32 of ice time, but he made those minutes count. He had 7 hits and the lone goal for the Canes. It was his first game since November 7, and he made it very difficult for the coaching staff to take him out of the lineup. If he stays physical and can continue to chip in periodically on offense, he will turn into a regular for this club.

There were a lot of positives defensively from this game, specifically defensively. The team controlled the pace of the game and played their brand of hockey, but it came down to their lack of ability to finish offensively. This is a problem that continues to loom over the team, and it needs to be ironed out at some point.

Next: Canes Need Much More from Skinner and Lindholm

The Canes’ loss and Columbus’ win makes Carolina the last place team in the Eastern Conference.

The Carolina Hurricanes will take on the Los Angeles Kings at 1:00 pm at the PNC Arena on Sunday.

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