For the second consecutive contest, a poor third period effort from the Toronto Maple Leafs cost them a game.
Toronto surrendered a two-goal lead and lost in overtime against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. On Saturday night, the Leafs entered the third period down a goal to the Edmonton Oilers, but allowed three goals in the first ten minutes of the final frame. In the end, the Leafs fell 6-3 to the Oilers, taking their first regulation loss in two weeks.
Speaking to media after the game, veteran defenceman Morgan Rielly didn’t mince words in calling out the team’s lack of effort through the final frame.
“It’s not that different from the San Jose game,” Rielly said. “Going into the third period in a good position and you don’t execute, you don’t play the way you need to to win the game.”
Scott Laughton echoed similar frustration with how the Leafs approached the third period, breaking down how he feels the team needs to approach these situations differently.
“It’s hard to understand, we just have to be better,” Laughton said. “We have to better managing games in certain situations. You see those guys, you know how good they are in moments, and it can turn on you that quick. We just gotta know. We don’t have to make the perfect play every shift, it’s a 60-minute game for a reason. You gotta wear the team down and go the other way, play north, make them come to you. I don’t think we did enough of that.”
Maybe most frustrating for the Leafs this year is the inconsistency on a nightly basis. Often it’s the middle frame where the team has struggled, but on Saturday the team kept in it through the first 40, only to fall apart in the third.
“They’re a good offensive team, I thought we did a decent job within our structure,” Rielly said. “But when you’re outmanned at the net, there’s obviously something going on with structure, communication, execution, whatever it is. So we’ll fix that.”
Toronto was bested by a strong offensive group in Edmonton led by two of the top players in the NHL right now, in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Laughton acknowledged that fact as well, alluding to a lack of resiliency in this Maple Leafs group in stepping up to that kind of challenge.
“I think sometimes when things go a little bit south, you start standing and watching. They make it look like that too sometimes when their guys get going,” Laughton said. “So time to pick ourselves up and pick up some points here at home. We gotta start pushing and have some urgency.”
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