Recap: Canes Fall to Maple Leafs

Justin Williams tallied his second goal in as many games, but the Carolina Hurricanes fell, 4-1, to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Williams' power-play tally in the second period tied the game, but the Leafs regained their lead just over a minute later and stretched their advantage in the third period.
Here are five takeaways from tonight's game.

One
The Hurricanes didn't have the start or finish they were looking for tonight, but for a very brief moment, they tied the score in the second period.
It was too brief, though, and the Leafs retook the lead and didn't look back.

"We were right there. Then, just a little not quite, just a little not quite there, just a little late - a little bit of everything adds up," Williams said. "You've got to finish games off. That was a frustrating one, absolutely frustrating."
"We said it before the game. We were playing one of the best offensive teams out there, and we needed everyone on board," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I don't think we got that."
Two
On a power play in the second period, Sebastian Aho skated up the ice and drew a trio of defensemen to him at the blue line. He saucered a pass to the tape of Williams, who then popped a shot top-shelf to tie the game at one.

It was Williams' second goal in as many games and his 103rd as a Hurricane (in 376 games), which matches his 103 goals scored in 427 games with Los Angeles from 2009-15.
Three
It didn't take long for the Leafs to nullify the Canes' equalizer. Just 67 seconds later, Morgan Reilly attempted a centering feed that bounced in off the stick of Dougie Hamilton.
It was that kind of night for Hamilton and the Canes.
"We were hanging in there, but we lost some battles on the walls on the second goal that, I think, deflated us," Brind'Amour said. "We had just tied it up, and you need to have good shifts after scoring. That was tough. The third one kind of broke our backs."
Patrick Marleau and John Tavares - who now has an absurd 24 goals and 19 assists (43 points) in 36 career games against the Canes - put the game away in the third period.
"We're not committed enough to doing it every single time we're out there. That was a frustrating one because we were right there," Williams said. "It wasn't there tonight from everybody."
Four
Micheal Ferland returned to game action tonight after missing the last four games with a concussion, but he didn't make it out of the first period. The 26-year-old forward departed after logging 5:11 of ice time and did not return to the contest with an upper-body injury.
"He just didn't feel right," Brind'Amour said.
Five
The Canes' penalty kill matched up against the fifth-ranked power play in the league tonight, and it finished a perfect 4-for-4. That improves the man disadvantage to 27-for-28 (96.4 percent) over the last 10 games.

Up Next
The Hurricanes will travel to Montreal to face the Canadiens on Thursday before a five-game homestand leads the team to the three-day holiday break.
"There's huge urgency. We're middling, which is what we've done the past few years. It's not good enough," Williams said. "We need to get a string together. I keep saying that it seems like every week. We need to get a string together."