John Tavares said Maple Leafs were too easy to play against in shutout loss to Capitals

"They're a good hockey team, but we just didn't make it hard enough on them," Tavares said. "Too easy to get into our zone. Obviously a night where we probably weren't as clean or as crisp on the puck as we'd like, but that's when you just gotta really dig in and be very difficult to play against. Eventually after wearing an opponent down, things start to come, and you earn good things and put yourself in a spot to win the hockey game."

"Obviously execution just hasn't been good enough," Tavares said, of Toronto's power play. "Our puck support, our ability to just be sharper, and just harder. Just being very determined to be better than the penalty kill, create opportunities, and obviously eventually put the puck in the net, especially with the personnel we have."

"Clearly we're not in a spot we want to be in," Tavares said. "But we're not far off from being in a really good spot. We just have to realize night in and night"

The Maple Leafs entered the season aiming to become a team that's hard to play against but have not yet achieved that identity. opponents have found it too easy to enter Toronto's zone while the team has shown inconsistent puck handling and a lack of crisp execution. Toronto suffered its first shutout of the season despite five power-play opportunities and ranks last in power-play goals with 12 and a 14.1 percent conversion rate. The club sits seventh in the Atlantic Division and is four points out of an Eastern wild-card spot, though the roster retains belief and room for improvement with more consistent execution.

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