Craig Berube felt pretty good about his team before Tuesday.

Those emotions quickly dissipated for the Maple Leafs head coach.

Bérubé did what he could behind the bench – including putting his slow lines in a blender – but nothing stuck in Toronto’s ugly 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

“It wasn’t good,” he said. “We didn’t have control of the game at all.”

The Leafs had their winning streak interrupted in three games on a night where the home team wasn’t close before getting booed off the ice at the final buzzer.

“We really got away from our game,” John Tavares said. “Obviously they had good legs at the start. Our legs weren’t great and we didn’t manage the game very well.

“We’ve gotten away from what brings us success… just in a disjointed way. We haven’t really been able to build momentum.”

Earlier in the season, it was an ugly power play that was the problem. Now, it’s Toronto’s 5-on-5 play that’s ringing alarm bells with just one goal – on a shot by defenseman Conor Timmins that beat an opponent – ​​in the last five games.

“We should be disappointed,” said Tavares, whose team was shut out at Scotiabank Arena for the first time since Nov. 20, 2021, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. “We can say we can wash this one, but I think it’s disappointing, just with the way we played last week and a good chance to continue.”

Toronto remains without captain and star forward Auston Matthews, who missed a fourth straight game with an upper-body injury, but there is still plenty of offensive punch in the lineup.

“We need to be more connected,” winger William Nylander said. “Sometimes we get a shot and it’s over, the puck is out of the zone.

“Right now we’re just one and done.”

Tavares said his group managed to stay true to the message to open Berube’s first season at the helm, hard-nosed and pragmatic.

Tuesday was not one of those performances.

“Finding ways to turn things around, keep the game going and start finding some rhythm,” Tavares said. “It wasn’t even close to that.”

“We aim to do big things and do something special,” he added. “It’s a long season and every night you have to find ways to develop your game whether you have it or not.”

Bérubé said the formula for Tuesday’s defeat was simple.

“It’s pretty difficult to score goals when you don’t have the puck,” he said. “We need to generate more attempts at the net with people at the net.”

The Leafs will look to bounce back on the road Wednesday against the Washington Capitals.

“They wanted it more than us,” Bérubé said of the Senators. “That’s the main thing.”

MILESTONE MOMENT

Toronto defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is expected to play the 1,000th game of his NHL career against the Capitals.

“Amazing,” Nylander said. “What an achievement.”

THE hum

Ottawa center Tim Stutzle scored his seventh goal in his 15th game after scoring just 18 in 75 games last season.

“I worked really hard this summer,” said the 22-year-old. “I wasn’t happy with the way I played (in 2023-24) and the way the season ended. It’s a different mindset.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 12, 2024.