Getty The Maple Leafs were not happy with their performance in the lopsided loss to the Mammoth. The Toronto Maple Leafs celebrated a solid win against the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche on Monday night in Denver, but things took a turn for the worse the next evening at Delta Center against the Utah Mammoth, who dominated them with a 6-1 victory. The Mammoth outperformed the Maple Leafs in nearly every aspect of the game, and it was evident. Afterward, head coach Craig Berube expressed his disappointment regarding his team’s effort, highlighting the clear difference in energy levels between both teams. “Well, there is no excuse,” Berube told reporters following the frustrating loss in Salt Lake City. “They had a lot of energy and jump out there. They were quicker than us tonight, and it showed.” “They pounced early; I thought we got out of the first down 1-0 and in good shape,” he continued. “We came out in the second, and J. T. (John Tavares) had a breakaway right away. He didn’t put it in. We had some opportunities early on. We got our legs under us. The second goal went in, and the third one really dug us into a hole.” As things stand now, the Maple Leafs are sitting fifth place in the Atlantic Division standings and hold onto the second Wild Card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Trailing them by just one point are the Buffalo Sabres, who surprised many across the NHL by going on a 10-game winning streak after firing controversial GM Kevyn Adams back in December; they’re currently 8-2 over their last 10 games overall. Furthermore, both the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins are only one point behind Toronto as well with 52 points each.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs Aim to Move Past Their Performance Against The Mammoth
While it’s clear that winning every single game isn’t realistic for any team, the Maple Leafs understand they need to show more determination moving forward if they want to climb up in these closely contested standings. Veteran defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, now playing his second season with Toronto after coming over from last year’s Stanley Cup champions Florida Panthers, stated that their play was sloppy right from kickoff. “I didn’t really like our game from start to finish,” Ekman-Larsson said. “They came out with more puck possession; it was tough to defend against them. So we’ve got to be better.”____________________________________________________________
