While the slumping Toronto Maple Leafs sense a level of urgency amid a four-game losing streak, coach Craig Berube insists the club is not going to panic.
Toronto is without captain Auston Matthews (lower body) entering Saturday’s visit to the Chicago Blackhawks, and goaltender Anthony Stolarz is day-to-day, but the Maple Leafs feel confident they can regroup.
Two defeats during the skid have been by one goal, including Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Los Angeles.
“There’s lots of hockey left, but that doesn’t mean you don’t take any game for granted,” Toronto forward John Tavares said. “They all mean the same. The more games that go by, there is less runway. We’re not even at the quarter mark yet.
“It has been a grind for us. We have to get the other parts of our game going here.”
Might Berube suggest starting with quickness and assuredness coming out of the Leafs’ defensive zone?
“Advancing that puck up the ice with speed, jumping, getting the holes,” he said. “It’s confidence for me, a little bit, and puck play.
“The plays are there. We’re not making them and just not seeing it well enough right now. We have to pick up our pace. We have to be more confident in those plays.”
Chicago has been idle since Wednesday, when an attempt to stretch its winning streak to a season-best four games fizzled.
Coming off three straight victories to close a six-game trip, the Blackhawks couldn’t hold off the New Jersey Devils, falling 4-3 in overtime.
Landon Slaggert and Sam Lafferty each recorded go-ahead goals in the third period, the first tallies of the season for both, as Chicago navigated injuries to Jason Dickinson (upper body) and Frank Nazar (mid body) and fellow forward Andre Burakovsky’s illness.
“I don’t really love moral victories, but it’s hard not to say that we’ve grown,” Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said. “This is a game that, in years previous that I’ve been here, we would’ve lost by three or four because it would’ve just crumbled on us.”
Wednesday marked the beginning of a four-game homestand for the Blackhawks and a stretch in which they’ll play eight of their next nine games at the United Center.
Standout efforts from the team’s budding stars have helped Chicago play above .500 over the first five weeks of the season. Goaltender Spencer Knight, 24, made 33 saves against New Jersey to keep the team afloat.
Connor Bedard, 20, has scored in four consecutive games and has eight goals and 11 assists over a nine-game point streak.
“We have young guys that are taking steps and maturing and realizing how hard it is to win in this league,” Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato said. “They want to do it now; they don’t want to wait.”
Toronto’s William Nylander, who played in his 700th career game Thursday, has collected 21 points during a 12-game point streak.
Teammate Bobby McMann has scored in consecutive games and notched a point in three straight.
The Maple Leafs swept the two-game season series from the Blackhawks a year ago, outscoring Chicago 9-3.
–Field Level Media
