NHL

Two teams. Two huge disappointments. But after tonight’s game only one will lay claim to the title of worst team in the National Hockey League.

Entering the season, the Carolina Hurricanes were expected to be one of the elite teams in the Eastern Conference, if not in all of hockey. The expectations weren’t quite as high in Toronto, but not even the team’s most pessimistic observers had them pegged for dead last.

Carolina (3-12-5) snapped its franchise-record 14-game losing streak with a 5-4 shootout win over Minnesota on Sunday, two days after earning a point for the first time in eight games in an overtime loss to the New York Islanders.

On Tuesday in Montreal the Hurricanes looked like they were headed for two points, but they gave up a late goal and lost 3-2 in a shootout.

Toronto (3-11-5) earned points in seven straight games from Oct. 26-Nov. 7 after beginning the season 0-7-1, but have been outscored 16-8 in dropping their last four in regulation.

So how did these two teams get here?

Goaltending

The Hurricanes and the Leafs are the only teams to have allowed 70 goals this season.

After a stellar playoffs last spring, Carolina’s Cam Ward has been inconsistent and is out until early December with a leg laceration. Backup Michael Leighton left Tuesday's game with a lower-body injury, prompting the Hurricanes to recall Justin Peters from the AHL.

Manny Legace, who signed a one-year deal Nov. 9 after Ward was injured, should start Thursday against the Leafs.

Meanwhile in Toronto, Jonas Gustavsson will be back in net for the Leafs after getting pulled in a loss to Calgary on Saturday and sitting in favour of Vesa Toskala at Ottawa.

The Leafs would love Gustavsson to steal the No. 1 job from Toskala and his .854 save percentage.

Lack of offence

Despite boasting a talented roster featuring the likes of Eric Staal, Erik Cole, Rod Brind'Amour and Ray Whitney, only Nashville (43) and St. Louis (41) have scored fewer goals than the Hurricanes (44). To be fair, injuries to Staal and Whitney have played a role but it takes a team effort to be that inept up front.

For the Leafs, they focused their off-season efforts on improving their defence and it shows up front. The Leafs are only one spot higher than the ‘Canes in goals scored and their top three scorers not named Kaberle have just 12 points in 18 games this season.

The Coaches

Carolina’s Paul Maurice and Toronto’s Ron Wilson have tasted success at the NHL level, with both having led teams as far as the Stanley Cup Final (Wilson with Washington in 1998, Maurice with Carolina in 2002).

Maurice went 33-19-5 after taking over for Peter Laviolette last season and took the ‘Canes all the way to the Eastern Conference final.

Wilson replaced Maurice in Toronto after the latter missed the playoffs in 2007-08 after famously declaring the team would make the playoffs and compete for the Stanley Cup.

Wilson is no stranger to controversial comments either, suggesting at his first training camp as Leafs coach that Maurice had run too loose of a ship the previous season.

"There's a general understanding now that there's no sense of entitlement here," Wilson said. "To be honest with you, we have a lot of guys who aren't worried about the W's, they're worried about their ice time. Once they get through that, is where we'll be fine.

"That's the mentality I'm trying to break."

Both men own the same number of Stanley Cup rings (zero) and the jury remains out on whether they are the right men to lead their teams back to respectability.