With just over a month until the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz knows it’s time to fine tune his game and get locked in for the postseason.

Unfortunately, Stolarz and the Maple Leafs are heading in the wrong direction at the moment, losing five of six, including Saturday night’s 4-2 defeat to the hands of the ascending Ottawa Senators. Stolarz spoke to reporters postgame and took some accountability for being outmatched by Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark.

“It was just a couple of bounces. The margin of error is so small right now, they’re a desperate hockey team, looking to climb the standings. For me, it just have to make a save. Linus made some saves at the end, and that’s what it boils down to.”

Stolarz stopped 21 of 24 shots on Saturday night against the Sens. He’s currently going through his worst stretch of the season, and hasn’t recorded a win since February 28 against the New York Rangers. Stolarz feels a little March reset could help himself snap out of his current funk.

“Go back to the basics, go back to training camp. The way we played the first month or two of the season. Try to re-assess, get back to that mindset, that attitude, tenacity that we were playing with to start the year, and just kind of regroup.”

Stolarz was making back-to-back starts on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena against the Senators, as it’s obvious head coach Craig Berube was trying to provide his goaltender with a vote of confidence despite the recent struggles. Stolarz is 13-8-3 on the year, posting an impressive .918 save percentage. The 31-year-old is playing career-high minutes this season, and it’s going to be extremely important to keep the towering netminder fresh heading into the playoffs.

“I mean, I feel good. At the end of the day, you’re a professional athlete, your job is to be ready, and be in shape. No fatigue, feeling good out there.”

While Stolarz may be feeling great, the team in front of him can’t seem to find a sustained sense of urgency, and have been lacking tenacity for a complete 60 minutes. This is something that the rising Senators are starting to make a big part of their identity, as they’re heating up at the right time of the season.

“Just their tenacity on the forecheck. The way they rim pucks out, recover pucks in the offensive zone. Just the way they get bodies to the front. They’re just throwing pucks at the net and turning chicken s–t into chicken soup and just getting bounces.”

“Maybe that’s something we can take from them and incorporate into our game because it seems to be working for them.”

With just over a month until the beginning of the playoffs, the Maple Leafs learn another lesson, and could do themselves a favor by taking some of the Senators’ identity, and using it as motivation to become a team that’s tougher to play against.

Sports is all about making adjustments, and Stolarz and his Maple Leaf teammates still have lots of fine-tuning to do before Game 1 of the postseason.