The Carolina Hurricanes resumed their season after the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament with a 6-3 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena Saturday night. Seven Canes skaters recorded a point in the last seven minutes of the game, but with two empty-netters, the three goals weren’t enough.
The Canes (33-20-4) rallied late in the third period to come back from a 4-0 deficit against the Leafs (34-20-2) but it wasn’t enough to come out with a win.
Defenseman Jaccob Slavin and center Seth Jarvis were back on the same end of the ice after playing against each other twice in the 4 Nations competition. Although it didn’t end well for Slavin, Jarvis returned home with a gold medal after Team Canada beat Team USA in the final.
The Leafs scored the first four goals of the game all in the first period, and didn’t score again until center Auston Matthews and right wing Pontus Holmberg each scored an empty-net goal, securing the win.
The game-winning goal came from center John Tavares who was in the perfect position to receive a pass from his teammate and got off a quick wrist shot past Kochetkov who was out of position.
The Leafs’ second goal came thanks to center Jordan Staal who was trying to clear the puck but hit it off of Kotchetkov’s back and had an unlucky bounce into the Canes’ net, recording an own goal.
Three minutes later, former Canes player, center Steven Lorentz recorded an assist on the goal from center David Kampf. With the help of center Alex Steeves, they were able to skate the puck around the Canes’ defenders, not letting them get a stick on it. With a snapshot right in front of the net, they went up 3-0. Tavares made it 4-0 with just under five minutes and the game seemed out of reach after the first period.
The Canes had a rough first period with multiple unnecessary giveaways and multiple players caught out of position. They couldn’t find their rhythm and didn’t until the third when they scored three goals within three minutes.
Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere opened the scoring for the Canes with a quick tip-in past goaltender Anthony Stolarz, recording his first goal in 20 games. This was the momentum needed to get the Canes back in the game.
The next two goals were scored 20 seconds apart from right wing Andrei Svechnikov and Slavin. Svechnikov got himself into position to receive a pass from right wing Mikko Rantanen and had a quick slap shot into the back of the net.
Slavin, working with defenseman Brent Burns, passed the puck around the Leafs defenders and put it in the back of the net right as a penalty to both teams for roughing ended. The Canes had the momentum needed, but with the game almost over, they couldn’t find what they needed to get the game-tying goal.
The Canes, back within one goal with only minutes to go, lost their opportunity to win when Kotchekov returned to the bench, allowing for the two empty-netters.
The Carolina Hurricanes stay in Canada for one more game and take on the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. puck drop.
