Can the Canes bounce back after a disappointing loss on Tuesday?
A disappointing loss on Tuesday finds the Carolina Hurricanes still searching for consistent play.
This challenge does not get any easier tonight as Carolina hosts the Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto is one of the hottest teams in the NHL. The Leafs have won five straight games and are undefeated in 2025. Over the last 12 games, Toronto has lost just three games.
The Maple Leafs have earned 27 wins this season, tied for second-most in the league. The team’s 56 points are two behind Washington for the conference lead and four ahead of Florida in the Atlantic Division.
Pacing the Toronto offense is Mitch Marner. Marner is tied for third in the NHL with 58 points and second with 44 assists.
According to Walt Ruff, Marner is the league’s second-leading scorer since December 1, tallying 27 points over 19 games.
William Nylander is tied for fourth in the NHL with 23 goals, and linemate John Tavares scored his 20th goal of the season on Tuesday night. Tavares is the Leafs’ second-leading scorer since mid-December.
Captain Auston Matthews returned to the lineup on January 4 after missing five games. In three games back, Matthews has tallied two goals and five assists.
The line of Matthews, Marner, and Matthew Knies is Toronto’s most productive five-on-five, scoring 16 goals.
Offense gets the headlines, but Toronto’s goaltending is a major factor in their success this season. And the team has done it with four goalies so far this season.
Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz are goalies 1a and 1b for Toronto.
Despite injuries to both, this tandem is one of the best in the league. Stolarz leads the NHL with a .927 save percentage and is second with a 2.15 goals against average.
Woll is tied for seventh with a .915 save percentage and 11th with a 2.46 goals against average.
Stolarz suffered a knee injury on December 12 and remains out. Toronto hopes he returns later this month.
Dennis Hildeby is on his second recall of the season. The rookie goalie was recalled when Woll started the season in the injured reserve. Hildeby won his first career start and has gone 3-1-0 this season. He will serve as the likely backup tonight.
Another key injury for Toronto is defenseman Jake McCabe. He was hurt during a fight on Sunday, and he is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury.
Over the past few seasons, Carolina has been the team with late-game heroics. On Tuesday night, a strong third period was wasted when Tampa scored the game-winning goal with less than a minute to play.
There has been a lot of uncharacteristic play from the Canes recently, and the team must find a way to string some wins together.
A positive from Tuesday night was Andrei Svechnikov’s goal. It was his first goal in nine games, and he now has points in three of four games.
Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis have been boom or bust. Over the past six games, Aho has three multi-point games. In the other three games, he failed to score a point. Jarvis has four points in four games but has only registered points in two of those games.
Via Ruff, below are the lines and pairs from yesterday’s practice:
Jarvis – Aho – Roslovic
Robinson – Kotkaniemi – Necas
Svechnikov – Staal – Martinook
Jaaska – Drury – Blake
Slavin – Burns
Orlov – Chatfield
Smith – Walker
William Carrier is still out with a lower-body injury. Shayne Gostisbehere skated with the team but remains out of the lineup.
In a positive development, Frederik Andersen skated with the team for the first time since knee surgery in November. He rotated in with Pyotr Kochetkov and Dustin Tokarski to take some shots during practice.
Note the time and television. Here’s how to check out the action:
- Time: 7:30 PM ET
- Location: Lenovo Center, Raleigh, NC
- TV: ESPN+, Hulu
- Radio: 99.9 The Fan
- Line: ML: CAR -170; PL: CAR -1.5 +154