Tavares on Maple Leafs’ lifeless loss to Senators: ‘We should be disappointed’

TORONTO — As the goal horn sounded for the third time Tuesday night, Craig Berube’s frustration began bubbling over, the Toronto Maple Leafs coach standing back, hands on hips, as he watched the wreck playing out in front of him. By the time the 40-minute mark rolled around, the thousands packing the Scotiabank Arena stands had joined in, raining boos down on the home side.

In the wake of the mess — a clumsy 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators that felt like it ended 41 seconds into the night — the coach’s opinion hadn’t shifted much.

“We got out-skated. They wanted it more than us. That’s the bottom line,” Berube said from the bowels of the arena post-game. Asked if the drubbing was the worst loss his club has endured since his Maple Leafs tenure began, the former Stanley Cup champ didn’t mince words.

“Pretty close. I mean, it wasn’t good,” Berube continued. “The other games we lost, there were different situations. But tonight, we didn’t have control of the game at all.”

That was clear enough to anyone who stuck around to take in all 60 minutes of the lifeless showing. It was likely just as clear to those who caught only the first minute, which saw a botched Maple Leafs offensive-zone sequence spur a three-on-one the other way, culminating in a Josh Norris goal before the fans had even settled into their seats.

The other 59 minutes didn’t offer much else. For every bobbled Maple Leafs pass, the Senators offered up a crisp, measured sequence. For every ill-fated burst from one of the home side’s big dogs, Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle weaved through the neutral zone, danced around multiple blue jerseys, and mounted a more meaningful attempt on Toronto’s cage. 

You’d be hard-pressed to point to a single moment in which Toronto put together any semblance of real, sustained pressure, or mounted an attack with conviction. While on the other side, their provincial rivals looked poised, collected and dangerous.

“We should be disappointed,” ex-captain John Tavares said from the home side’s locker room post-game. “I mean, we can say we can wash this one, but I think it’s disappointing. The way we’ve been playing over the past week, (we had) a good chance to carry it over after a couple days, a good work day yesterday, divisional opponent. Good for us that we get to get right back at it tomorrow and get our game back on track. Because obviously tonight was disappointing.”

Fellow veteran Chris Tanev — who’s 17 games into his own Maple Leafs tenure after a spell with the contending Dallas Stars last season — summed it up even more simply.

“They were faster than us and outworked us. You’re not going to win playing like that,” he said. “It’s on us. Obviously not ready to play. Right from the first shift of the game, they were faster than us and out-competed us.”

Even putting aside the early gaffe, there was still ample opportunity to regroup, refocus and get back into the tilt. And every reason to believe the group suiting up for this one had enough to do so, the Auston Matthews-less Leafs coming into Tuesday night on a three-game win streak.

“It’s 82 games. Sometimes a team scores early. It’s how we’ve got to respond,” Tavares continued. “We’ve done a pretty good job so far this season staying with our game, building momentum, finding ways to turn the tide, carry play, start to get some rhythm, be really connected shift to shift. 

“It wasn’t even close to that today.”

While a one-night write-off it may be, there were bigger-picture trends that hung over the disappointing loss too, tops among them a lack of five-on-five scoring that’s been an issue even when the wins have come. Though the holes have been papered over by some special-teams success here and there, a night like this one simply saw the club dig themselves deeper.

“We didn’t have the puck. So, it’s pretty tough to score any goals when you don’t have the puck. They had the puck the whole game pretty much, until the third period,” Berube said of Tuesday’s stumble. “We want to score more five-on-five, for sure. But at the same time, we can’t sabotage the game, like we did right away in the game (tonight) — we give them a three-on-one and they score. That’s not going to work.

“We’ve got to generate more attempts at the net, with people at the net, creating offence that way. We didn’t do a good enough job tonight. Overall, it was just not a good game.”

At the root of the issue, at least in this one, was a group that looked disconnected, out of sync.

“Just disjointed,” said Tavares. “We weren’t really able to build momentum throughout the night. … It starts with just the way we needed to execute and play all over the ice, instead of just worrying about the offence. Just the execution, the level of structure and detail. Then you start to connect your game through all three zones, you’re able to exit better, you get through the neutral zone well. You get on the forecheck, build offensive-zone sequences, get pucks to the net. And obviously you have to make it difficult on the goalie, getting bodies there and finding screens, and second and third opportunities. 

“It’s a long season. Each and every night, you’ve got to find ways to build your game, whether you have it or you don’t, whether it’s going well or it’s not going well. … Tonight we got away from that.”

The Maple Leafs won’t need to wait long for another crack at it, the club heading south for a date with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. After a seemingly easily-diagnosed unravelling, the recipe for a return to the win column in that one is clear:

“Get back to how we were working, and competing,” said Tanev. “We’re not going to win games if teams are faster than us and harder than us.”