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The Carolina Hurricanes returned to action with back-to-back losses, falling to the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime on Monday, then coming up short against the Ottawa Senators yesterday.
4-3 OVERTIME LOSS TO MAPLE LEAFS
The Hurricanes had a strong opening period against the Maple Leafs, outshooting Toronto by a 13-9 margin. Nino Niederreiter opened the scoring midway through the opening frame and as a result, Carolina took a lead into the intermission. However, the Leafs came out stronger in the second period and after generating the better of the chances in the frame, two late goals from Auston Matthews turned the tables to give the Leafs a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
The Hurricanes responded right away in the third period though, as Tony DeAngelo came down the wing just eight seconds into the period and snapped a low shot past Petr Mrazek. Then a little later in the frame, Derek Stepan took a rebound off a shot from DeAngelo and put it into the open net, getting Carolina the lead once again. However, the Leafs responded, as the Hurricanes couldn’t get the puck out and after Frederik Andersen couldn’t control the rebound, Mitch Marner found himself in alone and buried the loose puck, sending the game to overtime. In the extra frame, the Leafs sustained some pressure and after a scramble in front, Marner scored his second goal of the game to give Toronto the 4-3 overtime win.
4-3 LOSS TO SENATORS
Carolina got down early against Ottawa, and just over a minute into the game, Brady Tkachuk threw the puck on net and it bounced in off Sebastian Aho in front. The Hurricanes continued to allow some great chances after that and later in the frame, Alex Formenton took a pass and buried a shot past Antti Raanta, making it 2-0 Senators – a lead Ottawa carried into the second period.
In the second period, Brady Tkachuk struck early once again, burying a rebound in front under a minute into the frame. Then just a couple minutes later, Andrei Svechnikov threw the puck up the middle of the ice and it was picked off by Chris Tierney, who wired a shot past Raanta to make it a 4-0 game. Carolina did get some decent opportunities on power plays later in the period but couldn’t capitalize and they remained down by four goals through 40 minutes.
The Hurricanes did try to mount a comeback in the third period, as just two minutes into the frame, Andrei Svechnikov took the puck in front and put it around Anton Forsberg to get Carolina on the board. The Hurricanes continued to pressure Ottawa and got some great chances, but couldn’t cut the lead down again right away. With about six minutes left though, Brendan Smith put a puck through traffic and in, then with only about a minute to go, Vincent Trocheck’s shot took a deflection on the way to the net and beat Forsberg, making it a 4-3 game. That’s as close as Carolina would come though, as Ottawa held on for the win.
In the game against Toronto, the Hurricanes didn’t have a poor game and moreso, it was a fairly even matchup between two good teams. They came out with a really strong first period and while the Leafs did end up playing much better in the back two periods, Carolina was still very much in the game.
Against the Senators, it was kind of the opposite. The Hurricanes had a rough first 25 minutes and had a really poor time defensively. They got into a huge hole and while they made an attempt to climb out of it with a really strong third period, it’s not often you’re going to overcome a four-goal deficit.
That said, it was the second half of a back-to-back on the road and came after a break. While their start against the Senators was brutal, they did have a much better second half of the game. Despite the losses and only picking up only one of four possible points, there isn’t anything to worry about here.
Carolina’s road trip continues tomorrow against the Boston Bruins.
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