North Raleigh Today

The Carolina Hurricanes' attempt at a comeback fell short as they were defeated 6-3 by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena. Despite scoring three goals in a dominant third period, the early deficit proved too significant for Carolina to overcome.

The Hurricanes found themselves trailing after conceding four goals to Toronto in the first period. The second period saw no goals from either team, but Carolina mounted a strong effort in the third with three goals scored within just over two minutes.

Shayne Gostisbehere initiated the scoring for Carolina at 12:25 of the third period, converting a pass from Sebastian Aho. With their goaltender pulled, Mikko Rantanen assisted Andrei Svechnikov on a one-timer, reducing Toronto's lead to two. Jaccob Slavin then scored 20 seconds later, capitalizing on a loose puck to make it 4-3 with under five minutes remaining.

Despite outshooting Toronto 14-3 in the final frame, Carolina was unable to equalize. Two empty-net goals secured the win for Toronto.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 17 saves on 21 shots during his second consecutive start. Since Frederik Andersen's return from injury on January 20th, Carolina has alternated between Andersen and Kochetkov as starting goaltenders. This game marked Kochetkov's first back-to-back starts since early January.

This match was notable as it was the fourth time this season that Carolina scored three or more goals in the third period; however, it was their first loss in such games. Shayne Gostisbehere ended a goal drought dating back to December 2023 with his score against Toronto and also recorded an assist.

Brent Burns led all players with over 24 minutes of ice time and achieved a personal milestone by playing his longest consecutive games streak since November 2013.

Following the game, Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour commented on their performance: "The start was junk... We were just making really poor decisions."

When asked about potentially changing goaltenders after conceding early goals, Brind'Amour stated: "That's not what we needed to do... (Kochetkov) played good after that."

Andrei Svechnikov spoke about their successful third-period performance: "We got to our game... We just have to play the way we played in the third period [moving forward]."

Svechnikov also noted difficulties returning from a two-week break: "Very difficult... It's always hard to start, but it's no excuses."

The Hurricanes are set to face Montreal next Tuesday after practicing on Monday. Their upcoming home game is scheduled against Buffalo on Thursday.