Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin understands what it's like to be in the spotlight when times get tough in one of the NHL's most demanding markets.

"It's a lot of pressure to play here. It's extra attention for management, for players," Sundin said Sunday, according to the Canadian Press.

"You're gonna have ups and downs over a season, and ... sometimes the patience is a lot better in a market like Tampa or (if) you play for the (Florida) Panthers, (rather) than the Maple Leafs or the (Montreal) Canadiens," he said, according to CBC Sports.

Toronto entered the campaign with high expectations after adding several talented pieces to an already star-studded roster this offseason.

However, the Leafs have authored a 9-9-4 record through 22 contests and have just two regulation wins in their previous 15 outings. A 6-1 thrashing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday pushed the club's current losing streak to five games.

Despite Toronto's early struggles, Sundin believes the Leafs have the talent to turn their fortunes around.

"You have (a young team) in Toronto right now (that) are building, to me, one of the best young teams in the National Hockey League," Sundin said.

"If you have character guys ... you'll find a way," he added, according to the Canadian Press.

Sundin captained the Leafs from 1997-2008 and holds the franchise record for both goals (420) and points (987).

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Auston Matthews admits the Toronto Maple Leafs are a disheartened group after a 6-1 thumping against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday marked the club's fifth straight regulation loss.

"It's tough to get worse from here," Matthews said, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton. "It's frustrating. In the locker room, confidence isn't exactly high right now. We have nobody to blame but ourselves. It's really up to us."

The Leafs found themselves trailing early once again after the Penguins opened up a 2-0 first-period lead against backup netminder Kasimir Kaskisuo, who was making his NHL debut.

Toronto has now allowed the opening goal in seven straight contests and has only two regulation wins in its last 15 outings.

"We're 22 games into the season," Matthews said. "These points start to matter. We can't just say, 'It's just one game. We'll get it next time.' It's been repetitive, and for us, we want to make sure it stops now and we want to get back on track."

With a 9-9-4 record, the Leafs have suffered their worst start through 22 games with this core group and sit two points out of a wild-card spot.

Toronto continues its six-game road trip with a battle against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.

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Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean addressed former "Coach's Corner" partner Don Cherry and his divisive comments directed at Canadian immigrants on Saturday.

During the first intermission of the Toronto Maple Leafs-Pittsburgh Penguins contest, MacLean spoke about the ending of "Coach's Corner," his relationship with Cherry, and why he chose to speak out against his longtime partner.

"Coach's Corner is no more," MacLean said. "We are all hurting, I have collapsed a 100 times this week, if not more.

" ... I've sat all week long reflecting, and I've heard you (the viewer) I've reflected by listening to my own heart, and I've struggled mightily to find the words and I'm not sure I have them even now," MacLean said. "But they say it's a good thing because when you can find the words, it's dead in your heart, and it's not dead in my heart."

The 59-year-old publicly apologized for Cherry's comments Sunday on Rogers Hometown Hockey. Cherry said MacLean "buried" him with his response, but MacLean said he believed it was important to do what he felt was right despite their longtime friendship.

"I've decided to go one way and he another, and you say well OK how could you choose principle over friendship, but I had to," MacLean continued. "I thought a lot about falling on my sword, too, but if I do that, I infer what happened was right somehow or that I'm going along to get along, or that I'm going to sit silently by or be a bystander again in the situation ... Don taught me to stand right."

MacLean then explained what was going on in his mind during the broadcast and why he failed to react in the moment.

"I was kind of processing what he was saying and thinking I wasn't in an ideological bubble at all, I might have been in a friendship bubble because I was kind of praying that I don't think I'm hearing trouble but I might be hearing trouble, anyway, it was done, and then you called us on it and I thank you for that."

The pair had co-hosted "Coach's Corner," a Saturday night hockey staple, since 1986. MacLean concluded the first intermission by chatting with 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Hayley Wickenheiser and Guy Carbonneau.

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If there wasn't any bad blood between the Arizona Coyotes and Calgary Flames, there certainly is now.

Tempers flared between the two sides after Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau cross-checked Coyotes defenseman Jason Demers in the dying seconds of the second period Saturday.

After Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk followed up with a nudge to the fallen Demers, Arizona netminder Darcy Kuemper took exception, throwing Tkachuk to the ice. Kuemper's response prompted Flames goaltender David Rittich to join the action as a full-on melee ensued.

No players were injured nor ejected following the brawl.

Gaudreau was assessed a two-minute minor for cross-checking, while Kuemper and Tkachuk were each handed a double minor for roughing. Demers also picked up a roughing minor, while Rittich was slapped with a two-minute penalty for leaving his crease.

Kuemper made 37 stops for his second shutout of the season as the Coyotes blanked the Flames 3-0.

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John Tavares believes the Toronto Maple Leafs are still searching for their identity after suffering a third straight loss Thursday against the New York Islanders.

"We're not where we want to be," Tavares said following the 5-4 defeat, according to TSN's Mark Masters. "We obviously want to play a lot better, a lot more consistent. We got to keep working to find a way."

The Maple Leafs have won just nine of their first 20 games of the campaign. They've conceded the opening tally in 15 of those contests and allowed a 21st-ranked 3.25 goals against per game.

"When you evaluate what we've done in 20 games, we don't like it as a group," head coach Mike Babcock said, according to Masters. "We think we can be better and we'll identify the areas again tomorrow as we go through it and grind our way out of this.

"We got ourselves in the spot we're in, we've got to grind our way out of it."

Toronto boasted the majority of possession against the Islanders, posting a Corsi For rating of 62.37% while generating 54.72% of the scoring chances. Despite those promising numbers, defenseman Jake Muzzin said a recent lack of focus has proved costly.

"We have confidence in this group, in the team, in the room, we're just having some weird lapses through the game and it's costing us," Muzzin said. "We just have to be sharper throughout a full 60, shift to shift, more focused, better preparation and we'll come out on top in these games."

The Maple Leafs face a tough stretch to close out November. Toronto plays back-to-back contests against the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins this weekend, with the latter tilt kicking off a six-game road trip.

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Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby is mulling over his treatment options, which include surgery, for a sports hernia that has been bothering him since training camp, sources told The Athletic's Rob Rossi.

Crosby aggravated the hernia during Saturday's contest against the Chicago Blackhawks, Rossi reports. The Penguins captain left in the third period and didn't return.

The 32-year-old is weighing the opinions of medical personnel, and recovery from surgery typically requires four-to-six weeks, Rossi adds.

A different option includes a steroid injection and physical therapy, which would allow Crosby to delay surgery until the end of the season but would put him at risk of further aggravating the hernia.

The Penguins are waiting for Crosby to make a decision before updating his status, according to Rossi.

Crosby has appeared in all 17 of the Penguins' games this season, recording five goals and a team-leading 17 points.

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Colorado Avalanche netminder Adam Werner pointed to two things after making an NHL debut for the ages against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

"Great karma and great positioning," Werner said following the 4-0 win, according to NHL.com's Darrin Bauming.

Werner entered the game after just 31 seconds when starter Pavel Francouz was injured in a scary collision with Jets forward Mark Scheifele. The 22-year-old stopped all 40 shots he faced but won't get credit for the individual shutout because he played only 59:29.

The rookie goaltender was selected by the Avalanche in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft and has remained focused on earning his spot despite spending the previous three seasons bouncing between Europe and the AHL.

"You need to have a dream, and a big dream out there, and work for it, and be prepared if something happened," he said.

Starting netminder Philipp Grubauer missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury, and head coach Jared Bednar didn't provide an update on Francouz's condition postgame.

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The Los Angeles Kings have informed forward Ilya Kovalchuk he will not be in the team's lineup for the foreseeable future, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

The 36-year-old is welcome to practice with the club but will not be seeing any game action, Friedman adds.

Kings general manager Rob Blake would only say Kovalchuk was a healthy scratch against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night, according to The Athletic's Lisa Dillman.

Kovalchuk, who left the NHL in 2013-14 to play professionally in his native Russia, signed a three-year, $18.75-million pact with Los Angeles prior to the 2018-19 season.

The 6-foot-3 marksman has failed to meet expectations in his return to North America, tallying 19 goals and 43 points over 81 games with the Kings.

Head coach Todd McLellan called out his club in October, specifically stating there were "some veterans that really have to pick up their play."

This isn't the first time the Kings have removed Kovalchuk from the lineup. He was a healthy scratch this past March under former bench boss Willie Desjardins, a decision Kovalchuk deemed "horrible."

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are not in the market for a veteran backup goaltender despite placing Michael Hutchinson on waivers Monday, TSN's Bob McKenzie reported during Tuesday's edition of "Insider Trading."

Hutchinson, who cleared waivers Tuesday, went winless over five starts for Toronto this season, posting a 4.44 goals-against average and an .879 save percentage.

The Maple Leafs recalled Finnish puck-stopper Kasimir Kaskisuo from the AHL's Toronto Marlies on Tuesday, and it appears the 26-year-old will get a chance to prove himself at the NHL level.

Toronto has played five sets of back-to-back contests this season and will play five more before Dec. 31, including one this weekend. Head coach Mike Babcock has opted to play starter Frederik Andersen in the first game of each set, so it's likely Kaskisuo makes his NHL debut in the Maple Leafs' latter matchup Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Kaskisuo has been excellent for the Marlies this season, posting a 6-1-1 record with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage through eight starts.

Andersen, 30, has carried the league's largest workload since joining the Maple Leafs ahead of the 2016-17 campaign, leading all NHL netminders with 206 starts and 12,045 minutes played over that span.

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Colorado Avalanche netminder Pavel Francouz departed Tuesday's contest after just 31 seconds following a collision with Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele.

The 29-year-old appeared to hit his head on the post and was motionless on the ice for several moments. A team trainer eventually helped him off the ice.

Scheifele was handed a two-minute minor for goaltender interference on the play.

Francouz was replaced by 22-year-old Adam Werner, who makes his NHL debut with the abrupt appearance.

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