Captain Auston Matthews addresses concerns of massive drop in Toronto Maple Leafs' offensive production

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews addressed concerns regarding the significant decline in the team's offensive production following their third consecutive loss, a 3-1 defeat to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been outscored 9-3 over these three games, showcasing an alarming lack of offensive firepower. The struggles have become a concerning trend that the Maple Leafs need to address quickly.

Matthews acknowledged that the team needs to improve their offensive strategies. He noted that while there are opportunities, the team must focus on executing better scoring chances.

"We can do a better job of getting on the inside. But, I mean, there's, there's opportunities there, just bearing down on sometimes that's, you know, that's the way it goes," said Matthews post-game.

"Sometimes you get in these periods of segments, you know, we're just, you're fighting it a little bit, the pucks not bouncing away. But, for us, it's just sticking with it. Continue to push ourselves to be better, and continue to create opportunities, and get more guys on the inside," he added.

The defeat dropped the Toronto Maple Leafs (3019-2) to second place in the Atlantic Division with 62 points, just a point behind the Florida Panthers.

The Leafs will look to reclaim the top spot when they face the Edmonton Oilers (32-15-3) at Rogers Place on Saturday, with the puck drop set to drop at 7 p.m. ET.

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How the Minnesota Wild downed the Toronto Maple Leafs

On Wednesday, the Maple Leafs hosted the Minnesota Wild (30-17-4) at Scotiabank Arena. The Leafs dropped their third straight game.

Murat Khusnutdinov opened the scoring for the Wild, giving them the lead 7:07 into the first period. With less than five minutes remaining in the first, the Wild doubled their lead when Jared Spurgeon scored on the power play.

The second period went goalless. In the final period, William Nylander scored for the Toronto Maple Leafs, cutting the deficit to 2-1. However, the Leafs couldn't draw themselves back into the game, as that was the only goal they managed.

With less than a minute left in the final period, Marcus Foligno sealed the 3-1 victory for the Wild with an empty-net goal. Filip Gustavsson made 32 saves for the Wild, while Joseph Woll ended the night with 22 saves for the Leafs.