‘There’s A Little Bitter Taste In Our Mouth’: Maple Leafs Look To Redeem Themselves Against Flyers After Disappointing End To Road Trip

The Toronto Maple Leafs returned to practice on Monday at Ford Performance Centre, looking to reset after a frustrating end to their road trip. Their 5-2 collapse against the 30th-placed Nashville Predators – a team that had lost four straight entering the game – left a sour taste, and forward Mitch Marner made that clear following the on-ice session. 

“There’s a little bitter taste in our mouth with how we finished that road trip. Not happy with how that kind of fell apart,” he said. “Obviously, (we have) another opportunity tomorrow. Gotta flip the page. This Philly team is going to test us in a lot of ways and we got to be ready for that.”

However, Monday’s practice didn’t start on the right foot, as head coach Craig Berube was visibly unhappy with the team’s early effort, stopping a drill to express his dissatisfaction. 

“Execution, that’s all. I didn’t like the execution,” Berube explained after practice. “Passing wasn’t very sharp. Yeah, it got better. It’s just the mindset coming in there after a day off, a little sleepy. Execution is not good.”

The Leafs had appeared to be in control against Nashville, jumping out to a 2-0 lead after the first period. But a disastrous second frame, where they surrendered three unanswered goals, and two more in the third, saw the game slip away. The loss marked the first time in franchise history that Toronto lost to the Predators after leading by multiple goals.

“We should be pissed off,” said John Tavares post-game on Saturday. “It's a great opportunity to end a really good week the way we bounced back from a stretch that wasn't going our way. We weren't playing the way that we talked about our standard and the level of play we expect on a nightly basis. And it was a really good opportunity to go home and finish this trip in this week off really well. So it should piss us off and get us ready for another big week next week.”

Luckily, the Leafs don’t have much time to dwell on the loss with four games this week including a back-to-back on the weekend on their upcoming California road trip. With the Florida Panthers’ win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, Toronto now sits two points behind them in the standings, though they hold a game in hand.

Toronto is eager to get back on track, and that starts with a strong performance on home ice against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. It marks their third and final meeting of the season, with the Maple Leafs having won both previous matchups. Now, the club is looking to keep that momentum going and complete the season sweep.

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