The Toronto Maple Leafs <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-canucks-takeaways-power-play-struggles-lows-second-loss">were shut out 3-0</a> by the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday and two key members of their team offered different interpretations of what went wrong that night.
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Coming off a dismal showing and facing a team on a back-to-back with travel issues delaying their arrival, the Leafs looked like a tired team that sometimes felt disconnected. It didn&#8217;t help their cause that the power play was anemic on all three attempts with an all-too-predictable set of actions that left the fans at Scotiabank Arena raining down boos on the players.
Forward Mitch Marner was asked after the game about the Leafs&#8217; overall effort level, and while he felt it was fine, he also recognized that they needed to be better in other areas.
&#8220;I liked it. I thought we played well, I really did. Just last couple games we’ve been giving plays to teams that aren’t missing on them,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I thought we were good five-man tight in their zone. I thought we went through the neutral zone as a unit. I think when we didn’t do that that’s when breakdowns happen and they had a lot of offence off it and that’s something that we talked about that we need to be better at and we’ll look at it going forward and fix it.&#8221;
You can partly understand what he is trying to say in that he felt the Leafs were in it at 5v5, and part of what did them in boiled down to costly mistakes resulting in goals against them. Then again, they were chasing the game for all but 31 seconds so it could also be a classic case of score effects.
Natural Stat Trick said the Leafs had 47% of the expected goals at 5v5 on the night but they also had plenty of Grade-A chances that could have changed the complexion of the game had they gone in. Given that this came two nights after Marner and Auston Matthews each <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/matthews-marner-worst-plus-minus-any-leafs-1991-1992" target="_blank" rel="noopener">finished with a -6 rating, it</a> didn&#8217;t help calm the nerves of a fan base that gets fired up at the first sign of trouble. 
By contrast, defenceman Chris Tanev was more blunt in his assessment of the game. He felt that the Leafs simply made it too easy for a desperate hockey team and that they needed to play their game better.
&#8220;Not good enough. They outworked us, outcompeted us, and that&#8217;s why they won,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It comes down to us and being prepared to play and knowing what we need to do as a team. When I say outworked, I don&#8217;t mean the effort&#8217;s not there but we&#8217;re not connected as five. We&#8217;re not helping support each other and that&#8217;s where they took advantage of us and scored some goals.&#8221;
Whether the reason for the<a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-canucks-takeaways-power-play-struggles-lows-second-loss" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> lack of cohesion</a> was complacency, a mid-season rut, or not being fully prepared, it doesn&#8217;t change the fact that the Leafs made it harder on themselves on a night when they had all of the advantages handed to them. It is especially damning that they were gifted three power plays and didn&#8217;t have to kill one on account of the one infraction they took that resulted in a Quinn Hughes goal on a delayed penalty. 
Matthews spoke of the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/auston-matthews-says-leafs-simplify-power-play-lot-nothing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leafs needing to get back to basics</a> and putting more pucks on the net in regards to fixing their man-advantage unit. Marner agreed with his captain&#8217;s assessment.
&#8220;We weren’t just making easy plays. They’re breaking them up. We gotta do a better job getting pucks around that net,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That’s how we scored the last game so just gotta do a better job of finding lanes to get pucks to the net and bodies there.&#8221;
One underlying area of concern is the fact the Leafs have yet to have a full practice since the calendar flipped to 2025. Tanev disagreed with the notion that this is what is causing their recent slump while pointing out that the rest of the NHL is also having to deal with the challenges of the schedule.
&#8220;Every team right now is playing a ton of games because of the schedule, so I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s an excuse. As I said, we just need to be better and work for each other,&#8221; Tanev said. &#8220;Mistakes happen, but after a mistake, that&#8217;s when we need to help each other, and it&#8217;s not usually the first mistake that maybe the other team capitalizes on. It&#8217;s compounding a few things and that&#8217;s what they do.&#8221;
Marner and Tanev will look to take the lessons learned into their next game when they host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-canucks-takeaways-power-play-struggles-lows-second-loss">were shut out 3-0</a> by the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday and two key members of their team offered different interpretations of what went wrong that night.
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Coming off a dismal showing and facing a team on a back-to-back with travel issues delaying their arrival, the Leafs looked like a tired team that sometimes felt disconnected. It didn't help their cause that the power play was anemic on all three attempts with an all-too-predictable set of actions that left the fans at Scotiabank Arena raining down boos on the players.

Forward Mitch Marner was asked after the game about the Leafs' overall effort level, and while he felt it was fine, he also recognized that they needed to be better in other areas.

"I liked it. I thought we played well, I really did. Just last couple games we’ve been giving plays to teams that aren’t missing on them," he said. "I thought we were good five-man tight in their zone. I thought we went through the neutral zone as a unit. I think when we didn’t do that that’s when breakdowns happen and they had a lot of offence off it and that’s something that we talked about that we need to be better at and we’ll look at it going forward and fix it."

You can partly understand what he is trying to say in that he felt the Leafs were in it at 5v5, and part of what did them in boiled down to costly mistakes resulting in goals against them. Then again, they were chasing the game for all but 31 seconds so it could also be a classic case of score effects.

Natural Stat Trick said the Leafs had 47% of the expected goals at 5v5 on the night but they also had plenty of Grade-A chances that could have changed the complexion of the game had they gone in. Given that this came two nights after Marner and Auston Matthews each <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/matthews-marner-worst-plus-minus-any-leafs-1991-1992" target="_blank" rel="noopener">finished with a -6 rating, it</a> didn't help calm the nerves of a fan base that gets fired up at the first sign of trouble. 

By contrast, defenceman Chris Tanev was more blunt in his assessment of the game. He felt that the Leafs simply made it too easy for a desperate hockey team and that they needed to play their game better.

"Not good enough. They outworked us, outcompeted us, and that's why they won," he said. "It comes down to us and being prepared to play and knowing what we need to do as a team. When I say outworked, I don't mean the effort's not there but we're not connected as five. We're not helping support each other and that's where they took advantage of us and scored some goals."

Whether the reason for the<a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-canucks-takeaways-power-play-struggles-lows-second-loss" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> lack of cohesion</a> was complacency, a mid-season rut, or not being fully prepared, it doesn't change the fact that the Leafs made it harder on themselves on a night when they had all of the advantages handed to them. It is especially damning that they were gifted three power plays and didn't have to kill one on account of the one infraction they took that resulted in a Quinn Hughes goal on a delayed penalty. 

Matthews spoke of the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/auston-matthews-says-leafs-simplify-power-play-lot-nothing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leafs needing to get back to basics</a> and putting more pucks on the net in regards to fixing their man-advantage unit. Marner agreed with his captain's assessment.

"We weren’t just making easy plays. They’re breaking them up. We gotta do a better job getting pucks around that net," he said. "That’s how we scored the last game so just gotta do a better job of finding lanes to get pucks to the net and bodies there."

One underlying area of concern is the fact the Leafs have yet to have a full practice since the calendar flipped to 2025. Tanev disagreed with the notion that this is what is causing their recent slump while pointing out that the rest of the NHL is also having to deal with the challenges of the schedule.

"Every team right now is playing a ton of games because of the schedule, so I don't think that's an excuse. As I said, we just need to be better and work for each other," Tanev said. "Mistakes happen, but after a mistake, that's when we need to help each other, and it's not usually the first mistake that maybe the other team capitalizes on. It's compounding a few things and that's what they do."

Marner and Tanev will look to take the lessons learned into their next game when they host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

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