On a night full of adversity, the Carolina Hurricanes failed to come up with a big two points as they fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 3-1.
On top of taking the loss, the Hurricanes saw multiple forwards leave the game early and not return. It was a tough outing for the team, and here’s how it all happened.
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Scoring Summary
1st Period
TOR PPG (10:12) – Brad Boyes (7), assisted by Colin Greening (2), Morgan Rielly (20)
The Leafs hit the powerplay, and they looked sharp. Good puck movement led to a scrum in front of Cam Ward on a rebound chance, and Boyes swooped in and netted a loose puck past a sprawling Ward to make it 1-0.
CAR Goal (16:01) – John-Michael Liles (6), assisted by Eric Staal (23)
Off of an offensive zone faceoff win, John-Michael Liles winded up and released a rocket from the point that found its way past Jonathan Bernier to ties the game at one.
2nd Period
TOR Goal (5:33) – Josh Leivo (4), assisted by P.A. Parenteau (16), Viktor Loov (2)
Toronto came out flying in the second period, and they claimed their second lead of the game. A 2-on-1 rush was capped off with a cross-crease pass from Parenteau to Leivo, and he was able to sneak it past Ward.
3rd Period
TOR Goal (15:59) – P.A. Parenteau (16), assisted by Nazem Kadri (22), Jake Gardiner (16)
The Leafs finished off the Canes late in the third period thanks to a goal from Parenteau. It was his second point of the night, and it made the score 3-1 in favor of the home team.
Three Stars
1st Star – P.A. Parenteau, RW (TOR) – 1 goal, 1 assist, +2, 3 shots, 14:10 TOI
2nd Star – Jonathan Bernier, G (TOR) – 31 shots against, 30 saves, .968 save percentage
3rd Star – Josh Leivo, LW (TOR) – 1 goal, +2, 2 shots, 14:11 TOI
Recap
Thursday night wasn’t kind for the Carolina Hurricanes as they visited the apparent dumpster fire Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canes fell to the motivated Leafs by a final score of 3-1.
Carolina was not ready for the challenge that Toronto offered early on. The Canes found themselves fortunate to be involved in a 1-1 tie through 20 minutes after being outshot 15-6 by the home club.
“They were better and more competitive than us early. We were fortunate probably to come out of that first period tied 1-1.” – Coach Bill Peters’ postgame interview courtesy Carolina Hurricanes
The second frame opened up for the Hurricanes, who showed higher compete level and a bit more quickness, but Toronto still found a way to keep the advantage, thanks for a timely odd-man rush goal.
Toronto added a late third period goal to put a bow on things, securing a 3-1 win.
There’s really not a whole lot to make out of Thursday’s loss if you’re Carolina. The Hurricanes weren’t fast enough, they weren’t focussed enough, and they were out-willed by a Toronto team with very little to lose.
The Hurricanes were very lax in the neutral zone, which led to multiple odd-man chances for the Leafs, and, offensively, the Canes struggled to break the blue line and have clean zone entries throughout the game, both on the powerplay and at even strength.
It was a big chance for the Canes to make up good ground in the standings. A win would have lifted them to 68 points, good enough to tie the Pittsburgh Penguins, who sit in the 2nd wild card position. Instead, the Hurricanes remain just 2 points south of the Pens, a team which now has 3 games in hand.
Impressive performances from several Carolina players kept them in it for a long time. John-Michael Liles played another stellar hockey game, this time against his former team. Liles netted a goal and was a +1 on Thursday.
Jordan Staal and Eric Staal both stood out as players that seemed to be very engaged in this hockey game. They were both emotional at times, especially after Nazem Kadri laid a hit on Andrej Nestrasil that removed the Canes forward from the game.
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Jay McClement also left the game early on and did not return.
Jordan Staal, in particular, was physical and emotional with his game after seeing his line mate go down in a significant amount of pain. That ultimately led to a big scrum near the end of the game involving both Staals, Liles, Kadri, Parenteau, and Rielly.
This loss was tough to watch given the circumstances. Through what is now 62 games, this Hurricanes team has been the underdog in the East that has surprised a lot of people, and with the trade deadline just a few days away, there are a lot of things not only on the fans’ minds, but also the minds of many of the players on the ice. This team will likely be very different on Monday.
You’d expect more from this team in such a big game with the potential of big circumstances, but they just didn’t play the game that has gotten them in this situation. They were dominated by a Maple Leafs team that played with passion and spirit throughout.
The good news: this team is playing competitive games in February with one of the youngest rosters in the NHL, and that is ludicrously awesome.
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The Canes will fly back to Raleigh immidiately to take on the Boston Bruins on Friday night. This will be a key game for the club as the deadline approaches and they look to remain in the thick of the playoff hunt in the East.