Chris Tanev takes accountability after Maple Leafs’ ugly 6-1 loss to Panthers in Game 5

In the words of head coach Craig Berube, Game 5 wasn’t a good game for anybody on the Toronto Maple Leafs. The last guy you would expect to take accountability is Chris Tanev, who has been the anchor of this defensive corps for so long, but that didn’t stop him from doing so when speaking to the media postgame.

“I’ll take responsibility,” Tanev said. “I need to be better, if I’m a minus player, we’re probably not going to win the game, so it’s on me.”

Considering how much work Tanev has put into this playoff run, leading the NHL in hits taken by a large margin, he’s probably not the person who should be stepping up and talking about needing to be better. But that’s the type of teammate he is and why he’s such a coveted defenceman around the league. He was a minus-2 on the night, so it’s true, he didn’t play well, but the fact that the Leafs have only scored one goal in their past two games, with that lone goal coming in the dying minutes of Game 5 after the game was already a lost cause, certainly rings as a bigger issue.

“Focus on the first shift next game and go from there,” Tanev said when asked how the team needs to respond next game. “That’s obviously not the outcome we wanted tonight, not the result we wanted, but it’s something we have to learn from, individually and including myself, we need to be a lot better next game.”

With Auston Matthews still without a single goal in the series and Mitch Marner playing easily his worst game of the season, perhaps as a Leaf, on both sides of the puck, Tanev isn’t the player fans want to see accountability from. Matthews told the media following the game that everybody, including himself, had to look in the mirror. Tanev mentioned that the players with letters on their jerseys spoke up in the dressing room after the game, but declined to reveal what they said.

“We’re going to keep that between us. Yeah, we need to be better.”

The Leafs will now face a do-or-die Game 6 on Friday with their backs against the wall. A response will be expected, especially with the sheer lack of goals since Game 3, but considering how the Panthers have played and the Leafs’ spotty history in moments like this, the Leafs will need to do a lot to make their fanbase think they’ve got a chance to get back into it and force a Game 7.