Recap: Errors Prove Costly For Canes In Toronto

TORONTO, ON. -There was no pot of gold (or goals) to be found for the Carolina Hurricanes on St. Patrick's Day, instead rather a 5-2 defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Story

Opening a back-to-back set on the road, the weekend quickly got started on the wrong note for the Canes.
Just 2:54 in, on Toronto's second shot of the night, a puck was redirected by Kochetkov to give the Maple Leafs the night's first goal.
While the home club deserved all credit for creating the opening tally, their next four would all come with some assistance from Carolina. Later in the first, with a Canes defenseman caught up in the play, Mitch Marner went around Martin Necas and fired on a two-on-one to give his team a 2-0 lead.
Carolina would go on to play from behind the rest of the night, but they did have a quick response to Marner's 31st point in 20 games. Just 2:07 following, Brady Skjei was able to work down the blocker side wall to Ilya Samsonov and fire to get his team on the board.

But before the Metropolitan Division's leaders could take the game to the second period as a one-goal game, it was a penalty that this time bit Carolina. On what would be Toronto's only man advantage of the night, Auston Matthews had an initially blocked shot glance off of his leg and go by Kochetkov to give his team their two-goal gap back.
In the second period, Martin Necas was the beneficiary of some slick puck work from Teuvo Teravainen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, briefly giving Carolina some hope.
However, 4:14 after it became a 3-2 game, an overskated puck in neutral ice by the Canes allowed Zach Aston-Reese to work in on a two-on-one and score once again.
There would then be just one goal in the third period, and to round out their night Toronto added one more on an odd-man rush. Morgan Rielly worked in on a two-on-one with Matthews and elected to shoot, placing a wrist shot by Kochetkov's blocker to make it a 5-2 contest.
The final horn would shortly thereafter sound, and Carolina would suffer their second loss to Toronto in as many tries this season.
The two teams will meet at PNC Arena to close out their season series next Saturday.

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They Said It

Rod Brind'Amourproviding his perspective of the loss...
"They're one of the most talented teams in the league. We gave them a couple two-on-ones and they put it in the back of the net like it's their job. We knew coming in that we didn't want to do that. It's tough because we gave them a couple of goals. They didn't have to work too hard for them... When a team has that much offense, you can't give them freebies. We gave them a couple and it's too hard to come back [after that]."
Jordan Martinookdiscussing how the team's mishaps led to an easier route to victory for their opponent...
"A team with that skill level, you just can't be giving them chances. Every chance we gave them was a Grade-A chance that ended up in the back of our net. You have to be able to stick to your game plan, stay tight, stay above people and don't let their skill guys get behind you. We let that happen too many times tonight."
Brett Pesceoffering his thoughts on what went wrong tonight for Carolina...
"We're giving up a little too much. Sometimes we're trying to overdo things instead of just making the simple play. We've given up a lot of odd-man rushes in the last three or four games. I think we have to do a better job of cleaning that up."

Bonus Notes

• The Canes fall to 44-15-8 with the defeat.
• Jalen Chatfield returned to the lineup for Carolina after missing four games due to an upper-body injury. Dylan Coghlan became the healthy extra as a result.
• Brady Skjei's goal was his second in as many games, advancing his already career-high to 14 goals. Only five defensemen in the NHL have more goals than him this season.

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What's Next?

The Canes will travel to the City of Brotherly Love immediately post-game and take on the Flyers Saturday at 5 p.m. The game is an ESPN+/Hulu broadcast special.
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