Regular Season, Game 60: Hurricanes at Toronto Maple Leafs

It's been another extended break for the Canes after playing three games in four days last week. Tonight, they head north of the border for their final meeting of the regular season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The teams have split their previous two meetings, the Canes winning in Raleigh 3-1 on October 25, and the Leafs scoring late to force overtime before winning it in extra time 4-3 in Toronto on February 7. Last week was a good week for the Canes as they beat Colorado 2-0 and Philadelphia 3-1 in front of the home crowd before traveling to Pittsburgh and dropping a tight 4-2 contest to the Penguins on Sunday afternoon. Despite it being the second half of a back-to-back in less than 22 hours, the team looked good, but couldn't solve Tristan Jarry early. Brett Pesce scored early in the third period and Sebastian Aho scored late, extending his goal streak to three games and his point streak to five games, to provide the offense for the Canes as Antti Raanta took the loss. Frederik Andersen will start again for the Canes having played in the previous two games against his former team. He's allowed five goals on 57 shots against the Leafs this season, helping the team earn three of four possible points. Some good news on the injury front as Brendan Smith and Tony DeAngelo have both made the trip to Toronto. DeAngelo will not be in the lineup tonight, but Smith will be playing his first game since the first visit to Pittsburgh last month. Steven Lorentz will be playing in his 100th NHL and will have family in attendance to watch him in his hometown. 

Toronto comes into tonight without the league's leading goal scorer as Auston Matthews was suspended for two games for cross-checking Rasmus Dahlin up high during the Heritage Classic on Sunday. This will be the second game of this suspension and while he's accounted for three of the team's goals during their season series with the Canes, it didn't look like he was missed too much on Tuesday night against Dallas. Four different Leafs scored as Marner and Reilly both accounted for two assists as the Leafs shut out the Dallas Stars 4-0. The real story of the game was goaltender Erik Kallgren making his first NHL start stopping all 35 shots. It was a change of pace from what the team had grown accustomed to with Jack Campell, currently injured, and Petr Mrazek not playing well for the last two months. Kallgren will make his second career start tonight against the Canes. This is the first half of a back-to-back for the team before heading home to face the Capitals tomorrow night. The key to this game will have to be getting to Kallgren early. He's riding a huge wave after winning on Tuesday night, so early traffic and some goals might get to him. The defense of the Leafs isn't playing great right now. Everyone on the Canes needs to be engaged in the offensive zone to disrupt the rhythm of their opponents as they look to earn a big two points before a tough weekend against two strong division opponents. 

1st Period

Scoring

(TOR) 15:48- Ilya Mikheyev (12) (assisted by Justin Holl (12))

Thoughts

The Canes played a great period for just about 12 or 13 minutes before the Leafs made a push towards the end of the period. That push resulted in the only goal of the period as Mikheyev beats Andersen on the backhand on just their fourth shot of the period. Everyone came out jumping for the Canes, but Kallgren stood tall and made 14 saves in the period. The Canes had the only two power plays of the period but didn't generate anything solid on either one. There isn't much about the period to dislike outside of the score. It's a little frustrating to be down a goal, but there's still plenty of time left and hopefully, the intermission allows the Canes to take the momentum back. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(TOR) 4:39- Mitch Marner (24) (assisted by John Tavares (38) & Timothy Liljegren (16))

Thoughts

The momentum didn't swing the way that I hoped it would as the Leafs extended their lead early in the period on a goal from Marner. From there, the Canes built a decent period, albeit one where they will enter the third period scoreless and down two. Jordan Staal rang the post on a shot that could be heard from the farthest reaches of the universe. Seriously, the sound the metal made was loud. Andersen had to make a tough save late in the period and the Canes generated some good chances. I'm not sure what Kallgren has been eating before his starts, but it's working whatever it is. It can't be understated how badly the Canes need a goal early in the period to get back into this one. Skjei has been unable to finish twice in the first 15 seconds of the first two periods, so watch out for him. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 4:09- Ethan Bear (4) (assisted by Jesper Fast (12) & Jaccob Slavin (27))

(TOR) 7:20- Ondrej Kase (12) (assisted by William Nylander (34) & Alex Kerfoot (34))

(CAR) 19:56- Vincent Trocheck (16) (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (30) & Jaccob Slavin (28))

Thoughts

The Leafs' best period was the third period which is unfortunate for the Canes since they were down 2-0 coming into the final frame. The Canes got one back early in the period on a rebound shot buried by Bear, but mismanaged the puck and allowed a goal on a 2-on-1 to make it 3-1. The Canes had their chances to get back into it, but couldn't generate anything substantial. They tried to push at the end of the period with Andersen on the bench, but nothing came of it as the Canes dropped their second straight. The power play didn't generate anything on their one chance in the period and that felt like the momentum-killer. The late goal from Trocheck didn't leave enough time to get the job done. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Brendan Smith (3 Hits, 12:24 TOI)

Smith has drawn a lot of criticism from the fanbase for his play at various points of the season. The injury he suffered was a scary one for sure, so I'm very happy to see him back on the ice. I really thought he played well in his return to the lineup. He made some big plays defensively to break up some chances for the Leafs. He didn't play much, but he was physical when he was on the ice. 

Second Star- Vincent Trocheck (Goal)

Another guy that isn't afraid to lay the body, he would've been among my three stars even without the late goal to bring them within one. His six shots were a game-high, while his five hits were a team-high. He led the Canes' forwards in TOI tonight, the only among the 12 forwards to play over 20 minutes (20:30). His line was probably the best line of the night for the Canes. 

First Star- Ethan Bear (Goal)

At the time, the goal that finally beat Kallgren from Bear was huge. The Canes had been generating shots but hadn't gotten lucky. They got a great bounce on the initial shot from Fast and Bear found a way to get it through Kallgren's legs. He was also getting shots through for the second power play unit as well on a night where the man-advantage didn't look good. 

Final Thoughts

After two games, it may be too early to say that Kallgren is the answer to Toronto's recent problems in the net, but he looked very good tonight. The shot off the post from Staal turns out to be very big now. With the Canes dropping this game, they now have to head home and play a Washington team that they've struggled against in two meetings. They also played tonight and beat Columbus, so they'll be traveling just like the Canes. It'll also be their third game in four days, so they might be a little tired. Tonight is a tough one, but it continues a trend of recent games where the Canes get into a multi-goal hole and they can't dig themselves out of it. It's not a good trend, especially against playoff teams. The loss tonight stinks, but they have two big games over the weekend, so they can't hang their heads after this one. I didn't think they played bad, they just didn't play well enough to win in the third period. They get help with the Rangers losing tonight, so there's at least a small silver lining. You can't win them all, but I really felt the Canes could've won this one after how they played in the first 40 minutes.