Toronto. Tuesday Night. A team that was looking to play spoiler to the Carolina Hurricanes’ playoff chances. All of these were storylines going into last night’s Canes game against the Toronto Maple Leafs (46-27-7, 99 points).
The night before, the Toronto Maple Leafs had clinched a playoff spot with a 2-1 against the New York Islanders, a Canes Metropolitan Division rival.
In the Canes’ previous game, they looked flat against a Pittsburgh Penguins team in a 3-1 loss. The offense was not there, and McElhinney did not perform at his usual level.
Last night against Toronto, the Canes looked like the playoff-chasing Canes in a 4-1 win over the Leafs. Justin Williams got the scoring started on a shot that deflected off the leg of Leafs goalie Garrett Sparks at the 1:57 mark of the first period. The Canes were the dominant team in this period, holding the Leafs to only two shots while recording double-digit shot totals, and taking a 1-0 lead into the second period. This was after an overturned goal call, in which, on a two-on-one rush, Leafs winger William Nylander was called offsides after a successful challenge by the Canes’ video coaches, Chris Huffine and LJ Scarpace.
In the second period, Dougie Hamilton recorded the second goal for the Canes only 2:16 into the period, with his shot bouncing, once again, off Sparks’ skate and into the goal. After Hamilton’s goal, however, the Leafs took control in the period. They kept pressuring the Canes by getting out on the rush several times, and even forced Mrazek to make a couple of game-changing, point-blank saves. At the 9:05 mark of the second period, former New York Islander, John Tavares, cut the deficit to 2-1 for the Leafs, sending out a loud cheer in Scotiabank Arena.
The third period was very even. Lots of scoring chances by Carolina, and lots by Toronto. The Canes, however, were playing with a sense of urgency. They needed to win this game to keep playoff position, while the Leafs just needed to win in order to obtain better seeding.
That sense of urgency would pay off, as at the 10:24 mark of the final period, Jordan Staal would rip a shot from in between the face-off circles right past the stick of Sparks to extend the Canes’ lead to 3-1. That seemed to take the life right out of the Leafs, as they were unable to muster another goal.
With 48 seconds remaining, after the Leafs had pulled Sparks for an extra attacker, Dougie Hamilton banked in an empty-net goal, sealing the win for the Canes, and sending them back to Raleigh happy, where their fans will be waiting to see them take on the New Jersey Devils (30-40-10, 70 points) in the home regular-season finale.
The Canes outshot the Leafs in Toronto, 34-27, with rookie Andrei Svechnikov and veteran defenseman Dougie Hamilton (2 goals) leading the way with five shots on goal each. Petr Mrazek earned the 100th win of his young NHL career, stopping 23 of the 24 shots he faced, en route to being named the second star of the game.
This next game will have a playoff feel to it. In order for the Canes to clinch on Thursday, they need to beat the Devils, and Columbus or Montreal need to lose.
The sense of urgency will be high. I expect the Canes to play their best game of the season on Thursday night. PNC Arena will be packed and rocking. I will be traveling to the game myself, and cannot wait to feel the energy that the PNC Arena has been lacking for a long, long time.
