Matthews on ugly loss to VGK: 'Maybe we were hoping for an easy game'

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews lamented a weak effort from his team in Wednesday night's 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Matthews, who scored his 23rd goal of the season in the defeat, said his team set the tone for a poor game with a bad start that saw the Golden Knights open up a 3-0 lead on their first seven shots of the game.

"I just thought we were pretty flat at the start and, hey, that's a good team over there," the 27-year-old Matthews said. "They're a standard of the league, and I don't know, I just don't think we came out ready to play. Maybe we were hoping for an easy game."

Asked if three games in four nights was catching up with the team, winger Mitch Marner rejected the idea.

"It's a tough excuse to use," Marner said. "Last couple games really haven't been great by us. I thought our goalies kept us in it a lot of times, so it's a wake-up call."

Marner, who is fourth in league scoring, notched his team-leading 77th point in the loss with his 19th goal of the season.

Losers of two straight, the Leafs return to action on Saturday night with a visit to Denver to take on the Colorado Avalanche. They complete their three-game road trip on Monday against the Utah Hockey Club before returning home to host the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in a key Atlantic Division clash on Thursday in the first game of a four-game homestand.