'We've Got To Be Better And We Will Be Better': Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner's Lack of Scoring Bubbles to the Surface in Maple Leafs Loss to Kings
Toronto's top duo have scored just three goals combined over their last seven games.
On Halloween night, fans at Scotiabank Arena booed the Toronto Maple Leafs when they skated off the ice at the end of the second period, but it wasn't because any of them dressed as ghosts.
"We were not very good," Maple Leafs head coach said bluntly following his team's 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. "We were flat from the start."
Maybe it was because the Maple Leafs were playing their first home game after their longest road trip of the season and perhaps some fatigue set in. But Keefe and other players refused to use it as an excuse.
But as the season moves along, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner have been lacking in the production that has been expected from Toronto's stars. While that hasn't been a concern since there's production from others (like William Nylander, who set the franchise record for points streak to start a season at nine games).
Matthews has scored once in his last seven games while Marner has scored twice.
"I think I need to be a bit more of a threat as a shooter, be a little more selfish in those areas so it opens up Auston a little more," Marner said about the lack of offense. "We just got to have trust in our game. When we’re going well we’re going getting in on the forecheck. We’re stripping pucks and we’ve had moments of that throughout the season but just not enough.
"We’ve got to be better and we will be better."
During the Leafs' road trip, Keefe expressed some concern about his dynamic duo staying before the team's 4-1 win against the Dallas Stars that the pair didn't look as crisp with their passing. On a night where nobody brought anything to the table, a goal from Matthews and Marner could have helped things along.
But Keefe refused to put that on his list of short-term concerns.
"You look at the bigger sample you’re referring to, things are just off a little bit," Keefe said. "There’s been some chances here that haven’t gone in but chance generation has just been off.
"They’ll continue with it. Of the things I’m worried about those two guys are not anywhere near the top of the list."
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