Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews shared his thoughts on facing Carolina Hurricanes veteran Jordan Staal following the Leafs' disappointing 6-3 loss on Thursday.

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews submitted one of the worst defensive performances of his career in a 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, and reflected on what went wrong post-game.

Jordan Staal scored a hat trick to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

Jordan Staal scored a hat trick and the Carolina Hurricanes overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 ...

Jackson Blake and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes while Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 30 shots for his first home win since Dec. 17. Nicholas Robertson, William Nylander and Auston Matthews ...

Eric Robinson, Jackson Blake and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes ... William Nylander and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto, which had won five in a row. Joseph Woll made 28 saves.