Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs look to put an end to a three-game losing streak as they welcome Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks to town on Monday night.
Toronto (3-4-2) fell to the New York Islanders 4-1 last time out, with Colton Sissons’ third-period marker standing as the team’s lone goal in the loss.
Kirill Marchenko and Jack Roslovic led the team in shots with five each against New York, while first overall pick Gavin McKenna logged 17:56 of ice time after being limited to just 6:36 in Thursday’s game against Buffalo.
While still early in the season, the Leafs are now the only team in the Atlantic Division to hold a record under .500.
“We need urgency,” said Matthews after the Leafs’ loss to New York. “I mean, the games are just going to keep coming and we’ve got to just be better in all areas. Starting with myself, starting with the leaders and veterans on this team, I think we all got another level to show.
“This is an important week of games, obviously, and then we’re going back on the road, so we just got to make sure that we’re ready to play come Monday against a good, young, hungry team.”
San Jose (4-3-1) are coming off of a 4-3 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
Celebrini had a goal and two assists in the losing effort, bringing his season point total to 11 in his first six games of the year.
After Monday’s game, the Leafs take to the road for a battle against a familiar face in Matthew Knies and the Columbus Blue Jackets.