Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares react after Maple Leafs' concerning loss
Photo credit: Toronto Maple Leafs
After Toronto's 4-0 loss to the Washington Capitals, stars like Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander all reacted as things grow dire for the Leafs.
Thursday night was not a game that was quite what the Maple Leafs had in mind, as they were unable to create a spark like they did Tuesday, and were lifeless against the Capitals, coming away with a 4-0 loss.
The stars were awful collectively, the defense was doing their best but couldn't withstand the Capitals, and it seemed like whatever goodwill they built up against Chicago was dashed away almost instantly.
Maple Leafs stars react after 4-0 shellacking at the hands of Washington
After the game it wasn't a cheerful atmosphere with the Maple Leafs actually putting their stars in front of a camera after a loss, and the stars were pressed about what went wrong, and honestly it didn't sound hopeful.
Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares were a combined minus-five with only seven shots between the trio. They were ineffective, and it's getting to be worrisome for both the team and their fans; especially after Thursday's awful showing.
Tavares was asked about the team's performance and he did his best to try and stay hopeful for what's to come next:
Clearly we're not in the spot we want to be in, but we're not far off from being in a really good spot.
We just have to realize, night in and night out, how much more consistent we have to be with our game.
We just have to realize, night in and night out, how much more consistent we have to be with our game.
Auston Matthews, a player who has come under fire recently for his lack of accountability and impactful production also did his best to explain what's wrong with the team right now:
I thought we had a good step forward but we had taken a step back and we just aren't executing.
But when asked why his line failed to do anything, Matthews was at a loss for words:
I don't know. It's tough to kind of pinpoint, there were a lot of factors but I feel as a team overall I just don't think we competed hard enough, they won more battles and we didn't make it hard on them.
William Nylander didn't talk much afterwards but the sentiment followed Matthews' in that Washington outplayed Toronto and they were clearly the better team:
They just played a great game of hockey and we were not playing good hockey today...I think we're a bit disconnected.
It's not pleasant to be in the Maple Leafs locker room right now, especially knowing that Craig Berube's at a loss for words. He's completely out of his element right now, and it's quickly becoming more volatile.
There's a lot of discussion about whether the team wasn't playing for their coach anymore, and while it's hard to exactly confirm that; the results speak for themselves.
No one has the answers right now, and that's a problem. It's not just a coaching issue, or a locker room issue. The stars are failing, the team has no direction, and a severe lack of assets and time.
There's certainly still time for Toronto to turn it around, and with Christmas coming up perhaps the team is able to find themselves on the receiving end of a holiday miracle.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 19|3124 ANSWERS Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares react after Maple Leafs' concerning loss Should Toronto think about trading their stars? | ||
| Yes | 2476 | 79.3 % |
| No | 648 | 20.7 % |
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