The Carolina Hurricanes (finally) got back on the ice on Thursday, hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs for the fourth game of their seven-game homestand. The Canes have practiced twice since their last game on Sunday, a 1-0 overtime triumph over the Calgary Flames. Brandon Bussi recorded a 16-save shutout, his first in the NHL, and Nikolaj Ehlers was the overtime hero.

Frederik Andersen earned the start against his former team, marking his first appearance since losing to the Rangers on Thanksgiving Eve. Andersen allowed three goals on 17 shots in the loss. Mike Reilly made a surprise appearance, with K’Andre Miller feeling sick. Joseph Woll was in the net for the Maple Leafs.

The bounces weren’t going in the Canes’ favor to open the night. Bobby McMann scored 53 seconds into the contest, shooting it off the post and off Andersen’s back to get it over the line. Then, Scott Laughton took advantage of a puck off a stanchion, beating a surprised Andersen. The Canes got one of them back late in the period as Shayne Gostisbehere set up Seth Jarvis to cut into the lead.

The deficit only grew in the second. The Canes dominated the early offensive zone time, but one play changed it all. Matthew Knies worked past the defense and shrugged off Sebastian Aho before scoring a goal that should’ve been stopped. Then, a bad decision in the offensive zone by Jordan Martinook allowed Toronto to turn it up the ice as Auston Matthews finished a 3-on-1 to make it 4-1.

If you somehow hadn’t turned the game off by this point, you didn’t miss much during the third period. Denis Hildeby relieved Joseph Woll, who suffered a lower-body injury. The Canes had a few dangerous chances, but they failed to draw closer. McMann scored his second of the night into the empty net, cementing a dominant 5-1 victory for the Maple Leafs.

I think that should be it for Frederik Andersen for now

I had a little hope that Frederik Andersen might right the ship and turn his troubles around against his former team. That hope lasted all of 53 seconds when I realized he wasn’t going to get a single bounce. It all but disappeared after the second bad bounce. Honestly, there was no putting the game on Andersen after two unlucky plays in the first period.

All of the goodwill went out the door after Matthew Knies made it 3-1. That is a shot that needs to be stopped every day, and twice on Sunday. Knies made an incredible individual effort on the play, fighting off Shayne Gostisbehere and Sebastian Aho. However, this is exactly what everyone has been pointing to about Andersen not making the timely stop.

After tonight, it feels like the Hurricanes need to roll with a Brandon Bussi-Pyotr Kochetkov tandem for a bit. Andersen needs a mental reset to get his mind right because something is clearly not right. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Kochetkov and Bussi work the weekend back-to-back, assuming Kochetkov is ready to go. Otherwise, it looks like Bussi on Saturday and Andersen on Sunday.

All of the power play’s work at practice was for naught

Over the last two days, there was a lot of talk about the Hurricanes putting Jordan Staal on the top unit for the power play so he could take the draw. The Canes had three power plays tonight, failing to convert on any of them. On the first two, Staal was booted from the dot. Sebastian Aho stepped in and won one. On the third one, Staal lost the draw.

The face-off that Aho won, while leading to sustained zone time, was nothing more than non-stop passing for 30 seconds that ended with zero shots and a clear by the Leafs. It felt like the second unit hardly got to work. When they did, it wasn’t terrible. The Leafs were willing to throw their bodies in front of pucks, preventing the Canes from generating any momentum while up a man.

Additional Thoughts

The little spark the Canes found tonight came courtesy of the top line. Their goal in the first period was about the only thing the fans had to cheer for that wasn’t done sarcastically. Shayne Gostisbehere made a beautiful pass to Seth Jarvis, with Sebastian Aho picking up the secondary helper. Andrei Svechnikov didn’t get a point, but he was shooting everything in sight early and often.

This was not a good effort, especially for a group that just had three days off to recover, practice, and gameplan for this contest. They played a decent first period and started the second well before the wheels fell off. Whereas the Canes’ depth shone in Toronto last month, the Maple Leafs used their entire roster to get this one done in Raleigh tonight. Turnabout is fair play.

Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes will seek better fortunes when they host a back-to-back this weekend. It begins with the Nashville Predators on Saturday, who’ve managed to find their game with wins in four of their last five. The weekend concludes with the San Jose Sharks on Sunday as the 20th Anniversary celebration kicks off.