The Toronto Maple Leafs set their longest regulation losing streak of the season Thursday night, thanks to a 5-1 shelling from the St. Louis Blues.
With the loss, the team has now dropped three consecutive games in regulation, the team's longest stretch without a point this season.
The club remains confident in itself, but as defenseman Morgan Rielly insists, the team has little to hang their hat on of late.
"The confidence is there. We have lots of confidence in our group, we don't have a lot to be proud of right now," Rielly said postgame. "We have two outings that didn't go our way and we're not very happy with so, if anything, we have that much more motivation going into a big game against a team within the division. There's no reason to start getting concerned, it's just a matter of trying to get our focus back and make sure we know what to think. Just get playing our game again."
The Maple Leafs fell 2-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers just prior to the All-Star break, but it's been their first two games coming out of the time off that have been the most troubling.
The team fell 6-3 to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. A game that saw the Maple Leafs surrender five first-period goals and followed it up with Thursday's miserable display. The club has now given up 11 goals in their last two games.
As far as James van Riemsdyk is concerned, the team is better than how they have looked in their last few games, and getting back on track shouldn't take much mending.
"I'm sure everyone realizes where we're at in the standings and what part of the season we're at," said van Riemsdyk. "We know we've got more to give, we've got better hockey we're capable of playing, and it's just a matter of going out there, executing, working, and doing the things we know how to do."
The Maple Leafs will need to put that all together starting Saturday night. Toronto will play their most meaningful game in some time when they take on the Boston Bruins who sit three points ahead of the team and who have played five more games than them.
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