The Carolina Hurricanes lost 3-1 in a challenging matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night in the search for a playoff bid.

Although quick to tie the score in the first period, the Canes (28-24-10) allowed the Leafs (21-28-10) to score the remaining two goals (one per period) on the night.

Former Maple Leaf turned Hurricane John-Michael Liles scored the only goal for the Canes off a faceoff in the first period and was assisted by Eric Staal.

There was question whether Carolina forward Eric Staal would take to the ice but head coach Bill Peters was quick to end that rumor.

“He’ll go tonight, for sure,” Peters told the Toronto media before the game. “He’ll play. It’s just this time of year. I don’t think anyone is quite at 100 percent, so we just thought it would be best if he took a maintenance day.” (hurricanes.nhl.com)

Cam Ward was in the net again for the Canes.

“He’s been real good for us, and when he’s healthy, that’s when he’s at his best,” Peters said. “Our team game has gotten better to coincide with his goaltending getting better. … He’s on a nice little roll here.” (hurricanes.nhl.com)

The Canes have been riddled with injury and illness with players like Eric Staal, Cam Ward, and defensemen Justin Faulk in and out of practices.

The game against the Leafs did not assist the Canes in maintaining health as forward Andrej Nestrasil sustained a lower-body injury and was unable to return to the game after a clean hit from Kadri in the second period. Forward Jay McClement was also questionable to return after an upper-body injury.

Shots on goal were extremely close. This is where the Canes typically control the stats but the Leafs had more than double the shots on goal in the first period with 15 to the Canes’ six. The second and third period the Leafs were behind six and five shots respectively. By the end of the match the Canes only were up 31-29 shots.

The Hurricanes did well with penalty kills but were not able to take advantage of their four power plays of the game.

Canes forward Jordan Staal had some big hits versus the Leafs, including several in the final half of the third period, but it wasn’t enough.

With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, the Canes look to have success against the Boston Bruins in PNC Arena Friday night.