As the Canes took the Lenovo Center ice for the final time this regular season, they hoped to send the Caniacs home with one final win.
However, just as their season opened, the Hurricanes (47-28-5) fell to an Atlantic Division opponent 4-1, this time at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs (50-26-4).
With the playoffs and the Hurricanes’ looming first-round matchup against the New Jersey Devils encroaching ever so slowly, Carolina has seemingly stumbled in its final matchups of the regular season. Tonight was no different.
“It’s challenging,” said center Jordan Staal. “Everyone’s a pro here and everyone wants to feel good about their game going into the real deal, so we’ll learn from this and make sure we’re sharper next time and when it matters, everyone will be ready to go.”
During the opening period of the game, the play from the Hurricanes looked promising. Early on, Carolina found itself on the back end of a successful penalty kill, holding the Leafs to just one shot for most of the period.
However, just as the opening frame was coming to a close, Maple Leafs’ right wing Pontus Holmberg snuck a loose puck in the crease past goalie Frederik Andersen to put the Canes in a 1-0 deficit they likely should not have been in.
“It was one of our better starts,” said Hurricanes head coach Rob Brind’Amour. “I liked how we played the whole period until the last 20 seconds. … Not perfect but that took a little bit out of the boys when they played pretty solid and then the second wasn’t very good.”
As the second period ramped up, the Canes needed a spark that they never found.
Not only did star Maple Leafs’ center Auston Matthews double the deficit thanks to some pretty passing, Carolina once again failed to capitalize on the power-play much like they have for most of the season.
“I didn’t love our second period,” Brind’Amour said. “I thought we were just okay with being okay and that’s not good enough.”
Only down two goals with 20 minutes to go, it was possible for the Hurricanes to put a bad period behind them and come back, but Leafs’ right wing William Nylander put that to bed 1:25 into the third as he tipped a wrister from center Max Domi.
Not even two minutes later, however, Toronto gifted the Hurricanes a lifeline to get back into the game — a four-minute power play.
After defenseman Chris Tanev found himself in the penalty box because of a tripping and a high-sticking penalty in the same sequence, the Canes looked to capitalize and bring this game back within reach.
Although center Sebastian Aho was able to snipe the top corner on the back half of the man-advantage to bring the Canes back within two, the power play once again fizzled out, finishing the night a measly 1-4.
Center John Tavares scored the dagger when he flubbed in a pass from Domi to beat Hurricanes netminder Frederik Andersen. Not the prettiest of shots, but it was enough to ice the game with 4:17 left.
The Canes’ time in the Lenovo Center for the regular season has come to an end, but they still have two games remaining before beginning their quest for the Stanley Cup. The first of these games will be against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
