Matthews, Marner each post -6 rating in loss to Hurricanes
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It was a rough night for the Toronto Maple Leafs top line of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies in their 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Thursday.
The line finished a combined -17 with Matthews and Marner each posting a career-worst -6 rating.
Marner and Knies assisted on Matthews' 14th goal of the season early in the second period on a power play, just seconds after allowing a shorthanded goal to veteran Jordan Staal, his second of three goals on the night.
“We had breakdowns in our zone,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said after the game. “I thought we left the slot open too much tonight. I thought we spent too much time in our zone in general. It kind of got away from us.”
Matthews, who now has three goals and five assists in four games since returning from a lower-body injury, agreed with his coach.
“I thought we had good sequences of the game,” Matthews said. “But [there were] little breakdowns, poor execution that they obviously capitalized on. We did a good job of getting it back, but you don’t want to be in that position in the first place.”
Despite picking up the win, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour wasn't very impressed by the style of game either.
“It was beer-league hockey, beer-league plays to be honest with you,” he said. “That was hard to watch. But you turn the page. They key was we got the next one.”
Thursday's game was a matchup between two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference as the Maple Leafs (27-14-2) lead the Atlantic Division with 56 points after winning five straight games before falling to Carolina. The Hurricanes (25-15-2), meanwhile, own 52 points in 42 games this season, good enough for third in the Metropolitan, a full eight points ahead of the fourth-place Columbus Blue Jackets.