EDMONTON — Maybe it's the fact that they were going up against a scorching hot Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday that they didn't seem as disappointed as you might expect following their third consecutive regulation loss on Tuesday.
For the third consecutive game, the Maple Leafs held a lead and started well, only to see them give up with the game-winning goal surrendered late in regulation time to wind up a 4-2 defeat.
Are they frustrated by it? The overwhelming sentiment is they are. But how they are showing it varies.
“You can look at the past four games or so, there’s been periods of hockey that have been really good," Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly insisted. "That’s enough to give us confidence. We’ll look to close things out and want to get back on the right side of things but there are things that are happening that are good."
Auston Matthews agreed.
"I think we’re defending better and our starts to games have been much better tonight," Matthews said. "But, in the end, you want to close out these games. It is frustrating, but I think it’s something that we can’t feel or get too down on ourselves."
The Maple Leafs jumped out to a 2-0 lead at Rogers Place. But the Oilers scored four unanswered. The game-winner came with 3:05 remaining in regulation time, an alarming trend that has seen good efforts turn into zero points in the standings.
The Leafs have dropped four straight games and have lost three consecutive games in regulation for the first time since Oct. 22-25, 2021. Back then, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was feeling the pressure and the mood of the team was not great after a terrible start to the season.
It was the last game of that losing streak, a 4-1 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes when Keefe took a positive approach to how his team played despite the loss.
It wasn't too dissimilar on this night. The Maple Leafs played well early on. There were opportunities to prevent the Oilers from picking up their franchise-record 11th straight victory.
He acknowledged the troubling trend of giving up leads late but seemed more concerned about the team's lack of ability to execute offensively and put the game out of reach in the earlier stages of the game.
"The story will be us giving up leads. To me, it’s the inability to execute on these scoring chances and grow our lead and pull away and take away the will of the other team," Keefe said.
The Leafs have averaged just 2.5 goals per game over this four-game stretch. They had chances to put the game out of reach. After Matthews opened the scoring with his league-leading 34th goal of the season, Tyler Bertuzzi nearly scored a minute later, only to see his chance go off the post.
And while Mitch Marner agrees with the positivity in terms of how the Leafs played on this particular night, his approach seems to be more defiant about what is said about the club's effort outside the room.
That's why he feels the Leafs will end this recent slump quickly.
"It’s because we’re a great hockey team and we got to ignore whatever anyone else says. We know we’re a great hockey team. We show it every night," Marner said. "These last four games that we’ve had leads we’ve played some awesome hockey, some great hockey. Sometimes stuff goes your way, sometimes stuff doesn’t. For us, we just can’t get frustrated at each other."
Does he feel some of the frustration seeping in?
"No, but I think a lot of people on the outside are trying to do that. It’s how it goes for us. We know we’re doing the right things."
With a 21-13-8 record, the Maple Leafs are just one point up on the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning for third place in the Atlantic and just two points ahead of being out of a playoff spot entirely. It's unfamiliar territory for a group that has consistently separated itself from the pack at the midway point of the season.
And it doesn't get any easier for them on their current Western road trip. They visit the Calgary Flames — winners of four straight games — on Thursday before taking on the NHL-best Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
The tension will only grow without wins. But in a vacuum, the Leafs did perform well again the Oilers. The question they are facing right now is whether are they good enough for what lies ahead.
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