Maple Leafs forward Nicolas Roy reveals what he thinks is the biggest problem right now for the club after dropping their 2nd straight game.

It was certainly a much better performance compared to what we saw on Thursday night against the Washington Capitals, but it was the same result on the scoreboard as the Toronto Maple Leafs slumped to their 2nd straight defeat.

Nicolas Roy got things started with the opening goal just 92 seconds into his 400th career game. Both teams traded punches until midway through the third period when Luke Evangelista scored the go-ahead marker, followed by a Steven Stamkos tally into the empty net.

Bobby McMann made things interesting when he cut the deficit back to 1 goal with 54 seconds remaining, but it was too little too late, as Juuse Saros was able to shut the door and seal the victory for the Nashville Predators.

After the game, Roy spoke to the media about how he felt the team responded from their debacle on Thursday, all the while zeroing in on what he truly thinks is the Leafs’ biggest problem right now.

There’s definitely a shift we got to do mentally where you never want to play not to lose. You want to play to win, so not sit back. I think play our game, impose our game. I think we’re playing a little too much ‘we don’t want to lose.’

The former Vegas Golden Knights forward was fairly blunt in his response as he believes the Leafs are lacking aggression and intent, especially when they’re leading in games. If they sit back and let the opposition come to them, it leads to disastrous results.

Roy also added that their lack of aggression comes from their mentality of playing “not to lose”. The Leafs are playing things safe and aren’t using their weapons to good use when they could easily be pouring on the goals and giving their goaltender some reprieve with bigger leads.

Things just haven’t been easy for the Leafs this year and it’s spiralled out of control as the losses have piled up. Blame is being passed around from player to coach and it’s only a matter of time before changes take into effect.

The holiday break couldn’t have come at a better time for the Leafs, who have now lost 4 of their last 6 games and 12 of their last 19. They still have 2 more games to get to the finish line as they visit the Dallas Stars later today and then return back home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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