Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat gave an honest assessment of his team's play after Thursday's 7-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, pointing to the team's defensive failures for allowing an NHL-high 55 goals against this season.

"For us to feel sorry for ourselves and think it's going to come easy for us, it's not," Horvat said. "It's not our goaltenders' fault. We give up too many Grade A opportunities. It's disappointing. I'm not going to sugar-coat it. We weren't good tonight."

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"Not our goaltenders' fault"
2020-21 Season Stats
Demko: 3-5, 3.81 GAA, .897 SV%
Braden Holtby: 3-3, 3.63 GAA, .896 SV%

Thatcher Demko stopped 30 of the 37 shots he faced Thursday as the Canucks allowed five or more goals for the eighth time in 14 games this season. The Canucks have been outscored 18-8 during their current three-game losing streak after allowing just four goals over their four straight wins last week.

"It sucks," forward J.T. Miller added. "Giving up seven... it's kind of unacceptable."

Both head coaches pointed to the schedule as a reason for Thursday's lopsided affair, with the Leafs coming off five days rest and the Canucks playing their third game of the week.

"I thought, to be honest, we looked like a tired team tonight playing against a fast, skilled team," Canucks head coach Travis Green said. "And we were a day late, a second behind everywhere on the ice. Not happy with the game. No one in that room is. That wasn't a good game. They're a good team. They're fast. They're skilled. When you're a step off and a step behind, they can make you look like we did tonight."

The Canucks will face the Maple Leafs again on Saturday in the second of three straight games against the North Division leaders.