RALEIGH, N.C. — The weather had that feel, warm and full of anticipation. It was playoff hockey weather in November, and the parking lots outside PNC Arena reflected that Sunday afternoon.
Throw in the weird start time — 5 p.m. on the day the clocks fall back — and the ESPN telecast and a high-powered opponent and a standing-room only crowd, and the temperature wasn’t the only playoff vibe in the building.
Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs just had that kind of feel, a battle of matchups and firepower constrained in limited space, and — too much like last spring — a failure to convert early scoring chances that would come back to haunt the Hurricanes.
And so a four-game winning streak came to a precipitous end, not so much because the Hurricanes played poorly — although the third goal was a killer — but because they got outplayed in a few critical stretches.
A goal against the fourth line and third pairing, out together. A highly skilled goal by two of the Maple Leafs’ stars that the Hurricanes’ stars couldn’t match. That was enough.
For 35 minutes, the Hurricanes produced a stifling defensive performance worthy of the dead-puck era New Jersey Devils their red-and-black “reverse retro” jerseys resembled. That was good enough for a 1-0 lead after one, thanks to another Stefan Noesen power-play goal. Noesen, per his usual, scored from within inches of the net, banking a shot from below the goal line off the back of Toronto goalie Erik Kallgren.
But the Leafs turned their pressure into a Calle Jarnkrok goal against the Hurricanes’ fourth line and third defensive pairing with 90 seconds to play in the second period. Even as the Hurricanes restored their dominance to start the third, scored on their first shot of the period, more than eight minutes in, to make it 2-1. Mitch Marner tipped the puck past Brady Sjkei, who couldn’t handle it at a long reach, then fed John Tavares at the far post.
Michael Nylander made it 3-1 in the final minutes, outracing Jaccob Slavin to the puck and then slipping it between Frederik Andersen’s legs, a bad goal by any measure.
It was a hard loss to stomach, given the advantage the Hurricanes held for much of the game, holding both Marner and Auston Matthews without a shot on goal, against the Maple Leafs’ third-string goalie – Kallgren now their de facto No. 1 with both Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov injured. Toronto’s backup Sunday, watching from the corner of the rink, was new signee Keith Petruzzelli, who had been on an AHL contract until last night, a former prep school and Quinnipiac teammate of Skyler Brind’Amour, the coach’s son.
Especially with the Leafs playing in Toronto last night, this is one the Hurricanes would have expected to have an advantage and press it, especially after taking an early lead.
Fortunately for them, it’s just a regular-season game in November, whatever else it might have felt like beforehand.
