William Nylander gets candid about team's losing streak as Maple Leafs' confidence hits new low

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ struggles continued Sunday night with a 5-1 loss to the Dallas Stars. The loss extended a difficult stretch that has seen the Leafs drop three straight games and five of its last six.

The slump has also tested William Nylander mentally. When asked about the Leafs’ recent stretch of losses, he shared that this level of frustration feels unfamiliar to him at the NHL level and noted that he doesn’t recall experiencing a stretch quite like this before.

“I don’t know if I’ve felt like this before or had a stretch like this. I’m not sure. I don’t feel like I’ve had that in the NHL, at least,” Nylander said.

He also shared that his approach to dealing with such situations is to leave the rink, disconnect from the frustration and avoid carrying it home.

“You’ve just got to leave the rink and forget about it,” he said. “Everybody’s frustrated, and you can’t bring it home. You just focus on the next game, the next shift.”

Jason Robertson opened the scoring on the night and Dallas pulled away with four goals in the final frame as Toronto failed to keep pace at five-on-five. The Leafs generated chances but couldn’t solve Jake Oettinger consistently finishing 0-for-4 on the power play. Scott Laughton scored Toronto’s lone goal late but the outcome was already decided by then.

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William Nylander addresses team’s scoring inconsistencies

Nylander, who remains mired in a scoring drought himself, also pointed out that the Maple Leafs are paying the price for prolonged inconsistency.

The lack of finish has become a major cause for concern onToronto’s slide. Nylander acknowledged that both individual and team confidence are taking a hit as chances go unrewarded.

“We’ve been building positively the past two games, but when you haven’t been playing well consistently for a while, you have to grind through it even more. We’re just in that little slump right now where you’ve got to work yourself out of it.”

He noted that opposing goaltenders become harder to beat when top players aren’t converting and admitted that his own scoring drought has made things easier on the other side.

“I think our confidence is low too,” he said. “For me, scoring right now is hard to come by, so it makes it easier for him when I’m not clicking.”

On special teams, Nylander offered measured optimism. While results haven’t followed yet, he said the recently adjusted power-play units have provided a different look that could pay off once confidence returns.

After the loss, the Maple Leafs fell to 15-15-5 sitting outside a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and will look to snap their skid Tuesday at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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Edited by Anjum Rajonno