The Maple Leafs had eked out some tight wins on their five-game streak, but lost by a large margin and were clearly outplayed in Raleigh on Thursday night.
Our takeaways:
MY, MY THOSE MINUSES
Looking at Auston Matthews in fourth place of all Leafs in plus-minus since the NHL began tracking the stat in the 1960s, a positive 145, it’s a shocker to see him negative six, as well as Mitch Marner. Matthew Knies was only one better for an ugly minus 17 as a line.
The Hurricanes can do that to a team, but have been particularly difficult on Toronto through the years. Against rival captain and 19-year veteran Jordan Staal, Toronto’s trio was outscored 3-1, by Staal’s hat trick.
“All those guys, it’s their team identity, they push you hard, they close gaps,” Matthews said in grudging admiration. ”I thought we had good sequences in the game, we just had little breakdowns they capitalized on.
“Sometimes it’s the way the game goes. We’ll learn from it and get the next one.”
But coach Craig Berube may not be so willing to let this one slide, even if it was their first loss of the calendar year. He forecasted the Leafs would get all they could handle from the Hurricanes’ forecheck and as the second half of the season begins, time to think of what happens if they face a like-minded opponent in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
“We left the slot open too much tonight,” Berube said of the 35 shots the home side accumulated. “We spent too much time in our zone in general, especially in the second (a period the Leafs have dominated on offence all season). We have to kill more plays, come up with more pucks and we didn’t.”
That’s why in the latter stages he was tearing up the lines and defensive combinations he changed around before the game.
“We lost the gas,” summed up William Nylander.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
HIGH HOPES, LOW FIVE
With so much of an arsenal, Berube and assistant coach Marc Savard won’t abandon the five-forward power play plan, always coming back to it every few games. It worked well enough against the Flyers to warrant another chance Thursday, but while impressive once gaining the zone and setting up a bumper and net front, it can be exploited when one or two of its least physical players get caught with the back door open.
That happened on one of Staal’s goals, but Berube saved face for the fivesome by keeping them out, the twin towers of Matthews and Matthew Knies producing one by the former.
“We could’ve defended (the costly short-handed rush),” Berube said. “We actually tracked back (but) we have to be harder there in the neutral zone. The guy was on his backhand (two Canes in fact), we just have to take away the pass.
“There will always be concerns with five forwards, but we’ll see what happens.”
Both Nylander and Marner couldn’t do it on the play in question, though Nylander said there’s not a lot he would change overall about how the five operate on the other side of centre.
“Play the same way. They’ve got some nice bounces, we’ve got some crappy bounces. That happens.”
A JOLT FOR JOE
As with Matthews, five goals against Joseph Woll looks like an aberration given his role in the win streak.
“It was a pretty even game and at the end of the day, their goalie (Pyotr Kochetkov) outplayed me a bit,” he said.
Woll faced another 30-plus shots as he has through his recent roll. Anthony Stolarz is back with the team after knee surgery and should start workouts soon, but Woll likely starts Saturday against the Canucks.
“I’m sure he wants a couple of goals back (Thursday), but he’s been battling for us and playing well,” Berube said. “I don’t see him getting tired. He wants the net.”
STICK WITH IT, WILLY
Pre-game, Berube was full of optimism that Nylander was going to bust an eight-game goal slump, even saying he could do more for the player by putting him in better situations.
Nylander got the message, hustling to two breakaways and a 2-on-1 in the first nine minutes of the match, before finally burying his first since before Christmas. The return of Matthews and the previous hot run by Knies took some pressure off No. 88, who had four shots in all Thursday and two more attempts, one ringing the post.
“It would happen eventually,” Nylander said. “You have to simplify, get back to basics sometimes when you aren’t feeling the puck the way you usually are.”
X; @sunhornby