Matthews: It's on Maple Leafs to 'be better'

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews believes the team needs to take ownership of their recent struggles, which continued Saturday in a 4-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

"The margins have been really small in the last couple of games, but the details in our game haven't quite been there," Matthews said, according to the Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan.

"It's on us to figure that out and to just be better."

Ottawa swept the season series, winning the three contests by a cumulative margin of 9-3. Toronto has lost five of its last six games, with its only victory coming via a shootout over the Utah Hockey Club.

The recent slump has dropped the Leafs to third in the Atlantic Division, with their next four games coming against the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Nashville Predators.

Matthews believes the Leafs need to play better against these four opponents to get in the right frame of mind ahead of a playoff push.

"We have to get it through our heads that all of these games, especially (against) some of the teams we're playing, are going to be playoff-like games," he said.

"There are teams that are fighting for their lives. They're trying to make a push, they're desperate teams like the one we played tonight. We have to wrap our heads around that and just be better all around as a team."