The Toronto Maple Leafs are in dire straights.
Any hope to remain competitive coming back from the Olympic break has been wiped out after back-to-back losses in Florida were capped by Saturday night's 5-2 drubbing at the hands of their provincial rivals — a game where the Ottawa Senators looked to be in complete control.
The loss dropped them to third-worst in the Eastern Conference — behind only the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers — and eight points out of a playoff spot.
"Just bad, just fairly embarrassing to be honest with you," captain Auston Matthews told reporters after the loss. "We need to have more pride in our play no matter where we're at, no matter what the situation is. We just have to have more pride in our game and we didn't have that tonight."
The Maple Leafs held the lead early, when Morgan Rielly sniped one past Linus Ullmark to open the scoring.
That wouldn't last, though, as the Senators took the lead early in the second period and never relinquished it. The Maple Leafs were out-shot 40-23.
The Maple Leafs entered the Olympic break on a three-game winning streak, albeit against Pacific Division teams — two of which sit out of a playoff spot. All three of their losses since returning to play have been against divisional rivals.
"I think when you go through tough stretches, obviously you can lack confidence," Matthews continued. "It's never fun to lose, it's never fun to lose in this kind of fashion, three games in a row, so it's hard. It definitely wears on you, but we just have to be better. There's no hanging our heads, no feeling sorry for ourselves. Everyone's gotta look in the mirror and be better."
6:26
