It was a high-intensity, fast-paced practice after the Leafs dropped a 4-2 contest to the Arizona Coyotes Sunday, their second straight loss and their fourth defeat in their past five games. That stretch has eaten into Toronto's successes in the first half of the 2018-19 season, but the Buds remain in second place in the Atlantic division, one point ahead of Boston with a game in hand on the Bruins. The Leafs can't afford to continue losing more than they're winning, but that can be said for every team in the NHL.
As it stands, they've got a chance to make a big statement with a win over the Caps, who've lost four consecutive games and who are 3-5-2 in their past 10 games. And if they can do so, they'll head into their bye week - with no more games to play until a Feb. 1 road game against Detroit - on a positive. For that matter, head coach Mike Babcock believes there are numerous positives for his team even throughout their current struggles.
"I liked the process we went through last night," Babcock said Monday. "I liked the work we put in. I liked how much we had the puck. The bottom line is we didn't generate enough offence to win the game. We've got to find a way to be better. I wasn't disappointed in our work ethic. I wasn't disappointed in our preparation, or any of those things. In the end, we didn't get enough done."
Babcock mixed up Toronto's forward lines Monday: he put centre Auston Matthews on a line with wingers Mitch Marner and Patrick Marleau; centre John Tavares was put with wingers Zach Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen; wingers William Nylander and Connor Brown were placed on either side of centre Nazem Kadri; and centre Frederik Gauthier was on the fourth line with winger Par Lindholm and blueliner Justin Holl (temporarily taking the spot that will be filled by winger Trevor Moore).
That change had Leafs Nation abuzz with thoughts on the potential of the new lines, but Babcock would prefer not to change anything - as that would be an indication Toronto was back on the right track.
"If we were winning and it was going good enough to have the continuity, I'd keep the continuity," Babcock said. "But the bottom line is we're not finding a way to get it done, so we're willing to change it."
Leafs players weren't asking for change, but they're also aware these things happen when the results aren't to their liking. That said, they've looked back on their play in this current stretch and, like Babcock, they've seen a lot of good things.
"It's not by much we're losing a lot of these games," Tavares said. "We certainly know we have a better level of consistency and better level of play we can get to, so it's about working toward that."
The Capitals present a serious test for the Leafs, who are 3-7-0 in their past 10 games. Star winger Alexander Ovechkin still drives Washington's game, but the Caps have depth, skill and talent to spare. That said, Toronto's squad believes in itself and wants to underscore that belief with a balanced, consistent performance that will resonate into and after the bye week.
"We've got a quiet confidence and a quiet swagger that can carry us through this type of adversity," Kadri said. "This latest stretch we've had will make us a better team and teach us to dig in."
