The Toronto Maple Leafs jumped out to an early two-goal lead, but things went downhill in a hurry.
Craig Berube’s team simply wasn’t strong enough defensively, and it sure looked like they missed Jake McCabe. Jordan Staal scored a hat trick, and both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were on the ice for all six of Carolina’s goals against.
The overall team grade is a C-.
Player reports
The third line (Steven Lorentz, Max Domi and Nick Robertson): A
Robertson opened the scoring two minutes in, and his linemates both did what they do best to set it up. Lorentz won the puck back on the forecheck, and Domi made a nice pass to set up Robertson in the slot.
NICK ROBERTSON 🚨
Back in the lineup, back on the goal sheet pic.twitter.com/MBOyvOW3MV
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 10, 2025
Pyotr Kochetkov absolutely robbed Robertson of a second goal in the opening minutes of the third, and Domi set him up for yet another dangerous chance on net in the middle of the third.
William Nylander: B+
Nylander hit the post on an odd-man rush one minute in, and he proceeded to create two breakaway chances for himself within the first eight minutes. His third high-danger chance was the one that found the back of the net, as he made a perfect shot off the post and in to give Kochetkov no chance.
WILLIAM NYLANDER 🚨
THIRD TIMES THE CHARM! pic.twitter.com/YTUapVPuJ8
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 10, 2025
While he was easily his team’s best player in the first, he made a turnover on the power play in the opening minute of the second that quickly led to a goal against. He wasn’t nearly as effective in the final 40 minutes.
John Tavares: B+
Tavares won a key puck battle that led to a two-on-one chance one minute in, but Nylander hit the post. He was robbed on an A+ scoring chance in the early third, and looked dangerous once he was reunited with Marner.
Bobby McMann: B+
The Leafs out-chanced the Hurricanes during his minutes, and it feels like you’re getting a strong effort out of him on any given night.
The top pair (Morgan Rielly and Chris Tanev): B
They weren’t great or anything, but you knew when they were on, as Toronto’s other two pairs were iffy at best. Berube broke them up in the third, and it’s hard to justify playing them on the same pair while McCabe is out. Rielly took a tripping penalty at the end of the first, but their play was ultimately fine.
Philippe Myers: B
Myers let a cross-ice pass get by him in the middle of the second, and Joseph Woll was forced to make a wicked save. He was otherwise unnoticeable, which isn’t the worst thing to say about a depth defenceman against a tough opponent.
Joseph Woll: B-
Woll was beaten twice in 17 seconds toward the end of the first. The first goal came after Eric Robinson found a bouncing puck right in the slot, and the second goal came on the heels of a defensive breakdown. Carolina took the lead in the opening minute of the third on a short-handed two-on-one chance, but once again, the goal wasn’t really on Woll.
The fourth goal was his worst, as Jackson Blake beat him through the five-hole on a rush chance. However, he was better than his stat line suggested, and he made a huge save on Sebastian Aho halfway through the second to keep the game within one. The Hurricanes created plenty of scoring chances, and it felt like they fully deserved to have four goals on the board through 40.
Jordan Staal completed the hat trick with a deflection at the start of the third, but it felt like the Hurricanes could have easily scored a couple more.
The fourth line (Connor Dewar, David Kämpf, Pontus Holmberg): C
They created one quality chance in the third but didn’t exactly make a major impact at five-on-five. Although I trust this unit more defensively when Ryan Reaves is out of the lineup, there still isn’t enough offensive firepower to worry a quality team like Carolina.
The third pair (Simon Benoit and Conor Timmins): C
The Leafs were outplayed in their minutes, and it’s tough to see this being a playoff pairing.
Benoit’s size and strength are a major asset in the defensive zone, but it often feels like he can’t move the puck and get out of the defensive zone. Timmins fired a quality shot on net 10 minutes in but then coughed up a giveaway that led to a decent chance against.
Mitch Marner: C-
His line was ultimately quiet in the first two periods, and he failed to take away the pass on an opposing two-on-one ahead of Jordan Staal’s short-handed goal. However, he made up for it about 30 seconds later, as he threw the puck on the net and set up Matthews for a power-play goal.
Like Matthews, Marner was on for each of Carolina’s six goals, and while they weren’t all his fault, the main problem was that his unit couldn’t get into the offensive end. He looked far more dangerous when paired with Tavares in the third, but it was too little too late.
Matthew Knies: D
He didn’t make much of an impact offensively, and he was on for five goals against. His line was thoroughly outplayed.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson: D-
He looked like the player who the Vancouver Canucks bought out. He made a rough giveaway ten minutes in that forced Woll to make a nice glove save. He hurt his team again defensively five minutes into the second, as he was caught flat-footed, and Blake beat him out wide before beating Woll for Carolina’s fourth goal. It looked like he was skating in molasses.
Auston Matthews: F
Matthews was quiet offensively in the first, and he deserves plenty of the blame for Carolina’s second goal. He decided to go help Chris Tanev in what was a one-on-one battle behind the net, but he should have been covering Jordan Staal in front. He briefly turned it around to start the second, as he went to the net and cashed in on a rebound to tie the game with a power-play goal. Unfortunately, he failed to tie up Staal in the slot to start the third, and the veteran centre thoroughly outplayed him. He also took a penalty in the middle of the second and was a -6.
Game score
What’s next?
Heading home to play the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday at 7 p.m. on Sportsnet.
(Photo: James Guillory / Imagn Images)
