Leafs flat at home, in own zone yet again in loss to Canes

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Just as the Maple Leafs ruined their end of the ice, a home renovation bill this fall will leave them with significant debt.

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Constant problems getting the puck to their top forwards plagued them again on Sunday as the visiting team lost back-to-back games without key players. Logan Stankoven's third-period goal capped a three-goal comeback for the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-4, in the annual Hall of Fame game at Scotiabank Arena.

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In addition to Boston's 39 shots the night before, the Canes outscored the Leafs 45-20.

But the Leafs lacked inspiration from the big names as they were both overworked and outmaneuvered.

And what should have been a massive 12-game home run among the first 16 games ended with an overall record of 8-7-1. Currently, eight of the next 11 are outside the Eastern Time Zone, although only one is outside the Eastern Time Zone.

The combination of Dennis Hildeby and his goal posts kept the Leafs afloat until the third period, one on a Canes 4-on-3 power play, another on one of three breakaways. Coach Craig Berube's blood was boiling on the bench with his team's torrent of unforced turnovers.

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Auston MatthewsThe ninth goal of the season gave No. 410 a brief two-goal lead, 10 points behind Mats Sundin, who was in the house, before the splits appeared on Sean Walker's shot. Jake McCabe lost the puck to the Canes' winner, but he wasn't the only one making costly mistakes.

The Leafs somehow built a one-goal lead after a five-goal first period. Losing defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson this frame to a lower-body injury didn't help, as the club had already played without Chris Tanev the last few nights.

After a creative outlet pass from Morgan Rielly forced Matthew Nice to feed to William Nylander, Toronto was unable to get another shot on Hurricanes rookie goaltender Brandon Bussey for 10 minutes. During this period, a failed break resulted in a McCabe hold and a vicious one-timer from Sebastian Aho.

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With Nice, Nylander and Matthews stranded deep in the Carolina ice due to missed chances, Seth Jarvis scored on the ensuing outside attack. But John Tavares scored his ninth goal of the season (1,200 career games) and then gave Nylander a rare opportunity this season to score power-play goals in consecutive games for Toronto.

In addition to starting Hildeby in place of Anthony Stolarz after the Swede bounced back on Saturday against the Bruins, citing the latter's busy workload in 12 games with an .889 save percentage, Berube was without Scott Laughton (upper body) and Steven Lorenz (unknown). As a result, Kalle Jarnkrok and Sammy Blais left the stands and joined Max Domi in fourth line.

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