Leafs Lose 5 of 6 and Auston Matthews Gives the Team a Wake-Up Call
Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews publicly calls out his team after losing their fifth game in the last six following Saturday's loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Despite scoring his second five-on-five goal since January 23rd, Matthews and the Leafs fell short once again as they lost an important divisional game Saturday to the Senators.
After losing Thursday to the Florida Panthers, head coach Craig Berube made some significant changes to his lineup in the hopes it would spark some offence.
Unfortunately, that was not the case as the Leafs scored just twice for the fourth time in six games. If you don't score, you're not going to win any games, and this team has no excuse to not score.
Following a lacklustre performance on Saturday, Matthews had some harsh words for his team and they way they've performed over this last 6-game stretch, leaving valuable points on the table.
"The margins were really small in the last couple of games," Matthews said post-game. "Details in our game haven't quite been there and it's on us to figure that out and be better. We gotta get it through our head that all these games, especially some of these teams we're playing, are going to be playoff-like games. These are teams fighting for their lives, they're trying to make a push, they're desperate teams. We have to wrap our heads around that and be better all around as a team."
While Matthews asked his team to show some urgency, he also pleaded with them to find a way to quickly reset to the style of play that made them successful earlier in the season.
While Matthews asked his team to show some urgency, he also pleaded with them to find a way to quickly reset to the style of play that made them successful earlier in the season.
"I think when there's slippage like that, it's just trying to get back on track as quickly as possible, and, you know, for whatever reason, it just hasn't, hasn't kind of clicked, hasn't really gotten back on track for us. So, you know, I think it's just important for us to just take a look in the mirror [and hit] the reset button. We've got an important week coming up with a lot of games."
Saturday's loss to the Senators saw the Leafs slip to third in the Atlantic Division, and they may yet drop even further with the Senators just four points behind.
With four games and a busy schedule next week, the Leafs desperately need to figure out how to defend again and provide some offensive relief to Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll. If they don't, they could find themselves in a Wild Card spot heading into the playoffs.
| POLL | ||
MARS 16 | 2982 ANSWERS Leafs Lose 5 of 6 and Auston Matthews Gives the Team a Wake-Up Call Are you concerned over the Leafs' recent stretch of play? | ||
| Duh | 892 | 29.9 % |
| Nah not yet | 412 | 13.8 % |
| First round exit here we come | 1678 | 56.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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