"I feel like we were just flat from the start of the game. We didn't really have our legs, couldn't really get our forecheck going, and they controlled the play. Obviously those two guys back there control a lot of play, are deceptive and very shifty, and it just didn't seem like we had the legs that we needed tonight."
"He plays a lot of minutes, he's elusive, and like I said, he just controls most of the play. He makes such good passes, they hang on to pucks. It's hard to get your forecheck established in the neutral zone, when you're trying to get structure, those guys are skilled and talented enough where they can break that structure and break that pressure."
Toronto Maple Leafs struggled in a loss that hindered their climb back into playoff contention after a recent strong stretch. The team lacked energy, failed to establish a forecheck, and ceded control to Minnesota for much of the game. Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber each recorded two assists and logged team-high minutes, with Hughes leading at 26:33 time on ice. Hughes' elusiveness and playmaking repeatedly disrupted Toronto's neutral-zone structure and forecheck. Auston Matthews scored and added an assist, surpassing Börje Salming for fourth on the Maple Leafs' all-time points list with 769 career points; 89 points remain to tie Dave Keon.
Read at TheLeafsNation
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