2024-25 Regular Season, Game 80 Preview: Hurricanes vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

The Carolina Hurricanes returned to the win column, earning a dominant 7-3 victory over the New York Rangers in their penultimate home game of the season. Jalen Chatfield got the Canes going nine minutes into the game with a wicked wrister from the point that went bar-down on Igor Shesterkin. Late in the frame, Sebastian Aho set up Seth Jarvis to double the lead. Jackson Blake joined the fun early in the second period, burying a loose puck at the side of the net to triple their advantage. After Artemi Panarin hit the post on a wide-open net, William Carrier, making his return after three months, hit Mark Jankowski in front of the net to push the lead to 4-0. The Rangers finally got on the board late in the second after Will Cuylle snapped one under Pyotr Kochetkov's glove. Jordan Staal restored their four-goal lead early in the third, picking off a pass and carrying it end-to-end to beat Shesterkin. Things got tense in the third after JT Miller scored on the power play and Adam Fox buried a backhand. However, the Canes put the game away with a pair of empty-net goals by Jordan Martinook and Logan Stankoven. Four Hurricanes had multi-point games, and 12 of the 18 skaters had points to knock the Rangers out of playoff contention.

The Opponent: Toronto Maple Leafs (49-26-4, 102 Points- 1st in the Atlantic Division)

Last Meeting: The Hurricanes visited Toronto for their first game after the 4 Nations Face-off in late February. The Maple Leafs jumped on them early, scoring four goals in the first period. Alex Steeves started it by scoring his first NHL goal, followed by Pontus Holmberg, David Kampf, and John Tavares. The Canes didn't make a dent in Toronto's lead until midway through the third period, nearly doing the impossible. Shayne Gostisbehere, Andrei Svechnikov, and Jaccob Slavin scored three goals in under three minutes to pull within a goal with just under five minutes to play. Unfortunately, Auston Matthews scored into the empty net, and Holmberg added his second of the night a little later to complete a 6-3 win for Toronto.

Since We Last Met: The Maple Leafs are about as consistent a team as you'll find in the NHL. They don't get too high, but they don't get too low either. Since the Canes visited in late February, Toronto is 15-6-2 as they continue to push for the division title. They've already secured their postseason spot, sitting with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. You know what you're getting with the Toronto Maple Leafs. They have four guys who'll kill you every chance they get, with decent depth who provide big blows when needed. Mitch Marner is two points away from his first 100-point season. William Nylander is Top 5 in goals (44). Auston Matthews has 74 points in 64 games. John Tavares has turned back the clock, potting 37 goals. All four are above 70 points this season. Matthew Knies has broken out, sitting one goal shy of 30. Their goalie tandem is one of the strongest in the league. Joseph Woll will get the start tonight after Anthony Stolarz shut out the Montreal Canadiens last night in a 1-0 overtime win, which ended on Marner's 26th goal. 

Stories of the Night

1. Toronto Goes for the Atlantic Title

The Maple Leafs can wrap up the division tonight with a win and anything short of a Tampa win, or one point and a Tampa regulation loss. Basically, as long as Toronto gets one more point than the Lightning today, they win the division. If Toronto does win, they won't immediately know if they've clinched on not since Tampa starts an hour later against the Sabres. This would be just their third division title since 1963, and their first since they won the all-Canadian North Division in 2021. All of this is to say, Toronto still has something to play for tonight.

2. Using Travel and Health to Your Advantage

Both teams are playing the second half of a back-to-back, but the Canes have two "advantages" in this scenario. First, Toronto has to fly in after playing a 7 pm home game last night in Toronto, meaning they have to fly in and clear customs. Second, they played their game last night with one less player because of injuries and cap restraints. The Maple Leafs only dressed five defensemen, four of whom played more than 22 minutes, led by Morgan Rielly's 25:43. They'll likely have an emergency call-up travel with them to Raleigh, but the Canes need to take advantage of this situation as they try to set the new record for home wins in their final home game of the regular season.