Sunday afternoon (April 13), the Carolina Hurricanes hosted their final regular-season dwelling sport in opposition to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the Lenovo Heart. Each groups have been seeking to win the season sequence as they have been tied 1-1 going into the final assembly. Moreover, whoever gained the sport may change the battle for the second seed within the Japanese Convention earlier than the beginning of the 2025 NHL Playoffs. As the ultimate horn sounded, the Maple Leafs gained the season sequence after defeating the Hurricanes 4-1.
Sport Recap
This was a type of video games the place photographs on aim (SOG) can solely go to date outdoors of capitalizing on scoring probabilities. The Hurricanes outshot the Maple Leafs 11-4 within the first interval however have been down 1-0 after the primary 20 minutes of the sport. Pontus Holmberg opened the scoring with 17 seconds left within the interval. Joseph Woll stood tall for the Maple Leafs to maintain each Hurricanes shot at bay.
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The second interval was all Maple Leafs within the shot class and on the scoreboard. Toronto outshot Carolina 8-2 within the center body and noticed their lead double after Auston Matthews scored his thirty first of the season. A nifty give-and-go between him and Morgan Rielly made it 2-0 as they regarded to construct their lead within the battle for the second seed within the Japanese Convention.
The third interval noticed each groups get a aim as William Nylander made it a 3-0 sport simply 1:25 into the ultimate 20 minutes. His forty fifth of the season was a slick deflection to get the puck over the pad of Frederik Andersen because the Maple Leafs have been rolling. Nevertheless, a double minor noticed the Hurricanes get a power-play they usually lastly obtained on the board. Sebastian Aho‘s twenty ninth of the season was an enormous one to erase the Woll shutout. Seth Jarvis notched his third help within the final two video games, his thirty fifth of the season, as he arrange his linemate to make it a 3-1 sport. Because the Hurricanes tried to chop extra into the lead, John Tavares of the Maple Leafs iced the sport making it 4-1 with a tad over 4 minutes left. The Hurricanes outshot the Maple Leafs 10-6 within the third interval nevertheless it was not sufficient.
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The loss drops the Hurricanes’ dwelling file to 31-9-1 of their final common season sport on the Lenovo Heart. Additionally, it drops them to 47-28-5 with two video games remaining. What’s additionally alarming is that the Hurricanes are actually 1-4-1 of their final 5 video games since clinching a playoff spot. The Maple Leafs go to 50-26-4 and put a stranglehold on the second seed within the Japanese Convention.
Solely Two to Go
The Hurricanes (47-28-5) go on the highway for the final two video games of the common season. Their first sport of the back-to-back in Canada begins on Wednesday, April 16 in opposition to the Montreal Canadiens (39-31-10) earlier than they end the season in Ottawa the next night time. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. Japanese for the penultimate common season sport. Relating to the Maple Leafs (50-26-4), their subsequent sport is on Tuesday, April 15 on the highway in Buffalo versus the Sabres (35-37-7). That sport is scheduled for 7 p.m. Japanese earlier than the Maple Leafs’ final sport at dwelling on Thursday, April 17.
