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Nicely, at the least Auston Matthews and William Nylander took accountability on Thursday evening.
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“Begins with me,” Matthews, the Maple Leafs captain, stated after Toronto misplaced 5-1 to the St. Louis Blues at Scotiabank Enviornment.
And this from Nylander: “We’ve positive taken a dip. That’s on me and all people else on the workforce to select it up a notch.”
There was no response in opposition to the Blues, not the proper one anyway, after the Leafs have been overwhelmed badly in Columbus by the Blue Jackets on Tuesday evening.
Whereas it’s too early to loudly sound alarm bells — the Leafs have performed simply eight video games — the failures prior to now two outings should be fastened, and instantly. A two-game journey with stops in Boston and Winnipeg, on Saturday and Monday respectively, would have been tough sufficient, by no means thoughts for a Leafs workforce that has fully deserted the structural play that coach Craig Berube had them enjoying via the primary six video games.
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The good checking sport that the Leafs received going from the opener in Montreal on Oct. 12 wasn’t evident in Columbus and didn’t re-appear in opposition to the Blues.
It doesn’t matter a heck of so much now that, with some luck, the Leafs might need received all of these first six video games and never simply 4. With a document of 4-4, and at minus-1 in aim differential, greater than a little bit of bloom has come off the Berube rose.
There’s loads of time for the Leafs to get it again, and it begins with a return to the finish-your-check, defensively sound sport that was being deployed via the primary half-dozen video games.
Earlier within the day, there wasn’t a lot concern within the Leafs room after the workforce had a full time off on Wednesday. That 6-2 loss to the Blue Jackets? A blip, was the message, and bouncing again in Berube’s first sport in opposition to his former workforce, you may wager on that.
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It’s not what transpired. When you’re going to rebound, your finest gamers should cleared the path. That didn’t come near taking place on Thursday.
The road of Matthews between Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies was damaged down repeatedly within the defensive zone and every completed a minus-3. Nylander dedicated a turnover within the offensive zone, one thing that doesn’t occur typically, and the Blues took the puck down and scored. The miscue got here earlier than the third interval was 4 minutes previous and the aim by Jake Neighbours buried any hope the Leafs had of coming again, because it gave St. Louis a 4-1 lead.
Nylander stated it was a “silly” play on his half. Nobody tried arguing with him.
Defenceman Chris Tanev was on the ice for simply six St. Louis pictures on aim at five-on-five. However three of them beat goalie Joseph Woll.
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Why did the inexcusable efficiency occur once more after the Leafs weren’t good 48 hours earlier?
“I don’t know,” Matthews stated. “I feel it’s only a mindset, truthfully. I don’t know.
“It shouldn’t. I feel we’re a veteran group in right here and we’re a very good workforce, we consider we’re a very good workforce and we must always have responses after video games just like the earlier (one) in Columbus. We didn’t have one.”
Concerning the energy play, cue the damaged document. The Leafs preserve speaking about getting appears to be like and getting the puck to the online extra, but they went 0-for-4 in opposition to the Blues and are 3-for-27 on the season. When the expertise supplied by Matthews, Marner, Nylander, John Tavares and Oliver Ekman-Larsson is on the highest unit, that continued misfiring is ridiculous.
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We requested Berube if the loss was more durable to digest contemplating the gamers had talked about responding correctly. We must always have recognized higher in asking a query that might provoke a sure or no reply, however Berube gave us a little bit of a break.
“All losses are exhausting to digest,” Berube stated. “Whether or not it’s this one, that one, they’re all exhausting to digest. We’ll take a look at stuff (Friday in apply) and get higher.”
That will be the need. Berube has proof that the Leafs might be, and are, higher. The video from the victory in opposition to Tampa Bay, simply this previous Monday, would replicate as a lot.
Matthews and Nylander stated what wanted to be stated after the sport, pointing the finger at themselves.
It’s on them to place some weight behind these phrases and drive the Leafs again into the win column, beginning on Saturday in opposition to the Bruins.
X: @koshtorontosun
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