“We don’t get 13 wins 25 games in without having a team that can play well enough,” McLellan said. “Are we playing well enough? No, we’re not. Why aren’t we? There’s a little bit of disconnect between forwards and (defensemen) right now.

“Then in a team game, you sometimes get punished as a team, score-wise, momentum-wise, win-loss wise, for individual mistakes,” he continued. “That happens. Team breakdowns are much more repairable than just an individual faux pas.”