John Tavares makes his thoughts extremely clear on Maple Leafs' back-to-back losses after 5-2 defeat to Jets

By Mohit Pandey

Modified Dec 24, 2024 06:07 GMT

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The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered their second consecutive loss on Monday afternoon, despite John Tavares' two-goal effort, as they fell 5-2 to the Winnipeg Jets at Scotiabank Arena. The Jets, meanwhile, who had previously gone 0-5-1 against the Maple Leafs, continued their impressive run and improved their record to 25-10-1.

Toronto was playing without captain Auston Mathews, who re-aggravated an upper-body injury suffered from a cross-check in Friday's match against the Buffalo Sabres. The Maple Leafs looked disjointed and lost their second consecutive game without him, following a 6-3 loss against the New York Islanders on Sunday.

John Tavares, the only player to score for the Leafs on Monday, shared his thoughts on the loss.

"It’s a tough one to swallow, these last couple going into the break. We know how important every game, every point is, and it’s frustrating when we did not come with more over these last two," said Tavares as per Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan.

Despite the Leafs' 29-15 upper hand in hits and edges in faceoff percentage, the Jets blocked shots exceptionally (22-6). However, the decisive element between the two teams was left winger Kyle Connor's and center Mark Scheifele's outstanding performances. Connor scored goals in both the first (16:04) and second (1:16) periods, while Scheifele recorded a spectacular hat-trick.

"Their top line is as elite as any in making plays and taking advantage when they get time and space and you're chasing them," Tavares said in post match media interaction.

John Tavares hits milestone with 200th goal for Maple Leafs, joins elite club of NHL legends

NHL: Winnipeg Jets at Toronto Maple Leafs - Source: Imagn

Despite the Toronto Maple Leafs' second consecutive loss, which left fans irked, there was a silver lining: star center and former captain John Tavares celebrated a huge milestone as he scored his 200th goal for the Maple Leafs.

The NY Islanders' first-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry draft, Tavares played nine seasons with the club, scoring 272 goals along with serving as captain for five seasons (2013-18). The 34-year-old center signed a seven-year, $77 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2018, while rejecting a seven-year, $91 million offer from the San Jose Sharks.

After relinquishing the captaincy to Auston Matthews in August this year, Tavares has achieved the momentous feat of scoring 200 or more goals for two franchises. He joins NHL legends like Wayne Gretzky, Lanny McDonald, Mark Messier, and Keith Tkachuk on this elite list.