The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered an embarrassing loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday night and their team captain made it clear that the entire team is just not good enough.
In the 4-0 loss to a team that is also still out of the playoffs and trying to worm their way back up the standings, the Leafs were completely flat and lifeless. Nothing going on in either end of the ice for them, and because of it, Auston Matthews had to speak up and was highly critical of the team for letting a team like the Capitals just run all over them.
🎙️ | Auston Matthews | Post Game vs. Washington Capitals | Dec 18 pic.twitter.com/S2mt2PdDEi
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 19, 2025
"We made it really easy on them. The neutral zone was a highway for them to get through ... It's going to be an easy game for them if you can't break up plays or be on top of people with speed ... Everybody just has to go out there and do their job," Matthews said.
That's not really giving them any light advice. Matthews did not decide to tread lightly and give the same bland answer that the team has to try harder and it's more on him to do that, yadda yadda yadda. The Leafs captain was much more direct with his criticism and specifically mentioned just how easy it was for Washington to cut right into the important areas of the ice. Add that to not really trying to break up plays and skate hard doing so, and it is going to be a tall ask.
This poor play by the Leafs not only cost them in real goals, but the Capitals controlled the game. At 5-on-5, Washington had a 50-30 advantage in shot attempts, a 40-23 advantage in unblocked shot attempts, a 22-16 advantage in shots on goal, and 64.85% of the expected goals share, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It wasn't just a couple misplays but the whole game went the Capitals' way and it really is the Leafs' poor defensive play that caused a whole lot of this.
No one knows if this is going to be an actual wake-up call or it's just another week where a key player on this team wants more from the roster but they don't really answer. We'll just have to wait and see.
The Leafs have their next chance to try and not embarrass themselves on Saturday night in Nashville to face the Predators.