RALEIGH, N.C. – New lines, same result.
Faith in the Toronto Maple Leafs and faith within the Toronto Maple Leafs is getting tested, as the group followed up its most lopsided loss in nearly five years with another stinker.
The difference in spirit and in play between Frederik Andersen’s undefeated Carolina Hurricanes (now 5-0-0) and their visitors Monday night was as sharp as it should be disturbing.
Although the Leafs are doing their best to downplay a sloppy and uninspired week of hockey, tangible signs of a turnaround look hard to come by following a 4-1 Carolina victory.
“I think that noise and that panic from the outside can’t shake us — because there’s no reason it should. It’s still early, and we’re still trying to figure out our game,” Auston Matthews said.
“Within the room, we realize, obviously, that we need to play better. But at the same time, it’s not like the end all, be all. Like, it’s not the end of the world right now.”
Toronto is fighting the narrative, because how does one write a positive story right now?
If we’re scrounging for a silver lining, it’s that Matthews himself is on the board, four games after returning from wrist surgery.
“Hopefully he lets me sneak in one or two past him,” Matthews said, with a smile, the morning before facing friend-for-life Andersen.
It only took three minutes and 25 seconds for Andersen to grant Matthews’ wish.
Ethan Bear lost the big centreman behind the net, and Matthews whipped a wraparound past Andersen for his first on the year and 200th in just 338 games, becoming the second-fastest Leaf to ever reach that plateau.
With Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe scrambling all four of his lines in search of any offensive spark, Michael Bunting and William Nylander were promoted to Matthews’ wings. The trio looked dangerous early, with a nice Bunting forecheck helping to get the puck on Matthews’ blade.
“We’ve actually been spending a lot of time together off the ice. So hopefully that can kind of translate on the ice as far as chemistry goes,” Matthews said of Scarborough’s finest. “He’s always on the puck. He’s smart. He makes plays.”
Carolina does what strong teams do. They respond.
The Canes buzzed back with prime scoring chances. Andrei Svechnikov hit a double-post off a sky-high alley-oop pass. Vincent Trocheck whiffed on a clear breakaway. And Jack Campbell stoned Jesper Fast on a nicely executed 2-on-1.
Eventually, the better team broke through.
Sebastian Aho tied the game in the second period by deftly tipping an Ethan Bear point shot. Then fourth-liner Steven Lorentz outmuscled Rasmus Sandin for a loose puck in the slot and whipped it right through Campbell’s legs.
Immediately after killing off a Leafs power-play, the Canes scored their third unanswered. Jaccob Slavin undressed Mitch Marner at the blue line and fed Nino Niederreiter, who drove the net and slammed the puck home.
Marner hung his head.
Canes fans, much like Penguins fans on the weekend, rang in the win by doing The Wave.
Svechnikov pounded an empty-netter to seal the deal.
“I mean, the response is clear: We have to prove that we’re going to break some bad habits, and we have to play better,” Morgan Rielly said.
The Maple Leafs carry their four-game losing skid into Chicago Wednesday in a showdown between two storied franchises digging themselves into early-season crises.
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Fox’s Fast 5
• Andrei Svechnikov is soaring after signing his eight-year, $62-million extension in late August. He’s entered the season with a five-game point streak. His five goals and nine points put him top-10 league-wide.
• Keefe acknowledged the slow start for his shutdown pair, Jake Muzzin (minus-7) and Justin Holl (minus-6): “Just two guys that haven’t played at the level that we’ve come to expect from them. Those guys take on a lot of tough assignments and it is difficult for them. But we’ve come to expect them to thrive in that position, and it hasn’t happened here yet.”
• Some outsiders didn’t like the optics of Matthews and Andersen having dinner and watching NFL Red Zone together Sunday. Well, Petr Mrazek met up with some of his old mates on the off-day, too, including Svechnikov. Opposing players do this all the time, and with COVID restrictions loosened, it shouldn’t come as a shock.
• Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour on the endurance of Jason Spezza, whom he played against for seven seasons: “You got a veteran player who knows how to play and can skate. That’s the one thing that’s never left him. He’s got some confidence. The coach is playing him…. I think if his wheels weren’t there, it’d be a different story. But his wheels are there, and that’s why he’s doing what he’s doing.”
• Those “bunch of jerks” Hurricanes continue to lean into their NHL troll persona. Monday they hosted EBUG David Ayres, who revved the opening siren.
“It’s a great story, obviously, and happy for a guy like that to get some life out of it,” said Brind’Amour. “It might be more [of a story]up there where you guys are [in Toronto]than down here.”
Oh, it is, Rod. It is.
