The Leafs are still leading the Atlantic Division despite losing three consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs fell to the Dallas Stars 4-1 at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday. Despite being booed off the ice at home for the second consecutive game, the team is taking a glass-half-full approach, and there is some understanding as to why that is.
The Leafs still began Wednesday with the Atlantic Division lead, but it's down to just one point over the Florida Panthers.
"We're going through adversity right now, and as much as we prefer not to go through that, it's necessary sometimes," Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said following the game. "And these are the kind of moments where we've got to come together even more and stick with each other and work our way out of it. So that's really all we can do. That's the mindset going into it. Have a good practice tomorrow, and we're right back at it."
Matthews scored his 15th goal of the season for Toronto's only goal of the game. Although the atmosphere in the building seemed dull at times, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube was happy with the energy his club brought to the game.
"I thought we had a good start. I thought things were good, and we're, I thought, you know, a lot of good things," Berube insisted. "I thought we defended well against a real good team, and they're tight too. They don't give you much. So, it was going to be a low-event game, 5-on-5 and special teams were the difference tonight.
While the Leafs have been preaching to be better defensively, they've given up 13 goals over the last three games (one was an empty-netter). In those situations, Toronto's offense is supposed to help pick up the slack. That hasn't been the case.
"I think certainly with Craig (Berube) coming in, the coaching staff, and the things that we've been working on and adapting to, I think it's been real positive for our game," John Tavare said. "You're always looking to prove on and be better with, and how we're generating offense and, you know, the ability to break teams down and certainly doing that in different ways. So I think there's been a lot of good signs there. Underneath, maybe not getting the results, certainly maybe the last couple games we have been executed, certainly as well, but over the course of the year, we just kind of got to stay with it and trust what we're doing and know as you build your game and you compete night in, night out, especially with the type of talent we have that results will come"
