The Toronto Maple Leafs have now lost five of their last six after a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Sunday night.

But despite seeing their losing skid extended, it was one of Toronto’s better efforts as of late, keeping things tight for most of the match against one of the top team’s in the league, even if the scoreline doesn’t seem to reflect that. It’s something difficult for the Maple Leafs right now, unable to pull out a result even when they like certain aspects of their game.

“That’s the frustrating part,” Auston Matthews said, speaking postgame. “I think over the last two games, a lot of better things in our game. But in the end, you’re not getting rewarded for it, and that’s the frustrating part. It’s tough when you’re in a stretch like this to stay positive and just continue to grind it out, but that’s all we can do right now. Like I said the other night, we got to pick each other up and just continue to grind through this. We’re going to start to get those breaks, we’re going to start to get the puck to bounce our way.”

The Maple Leafs offensive struggles continued against the Stars now with just four goals in their last three games. Matthews in particular continues to have trouble generating, with only a goal and an assist in his last five games. But overall, Matthews shared he was happy with Toronto’s effort on Sunday, outshooting the Stars 28 to 22 but getting stopped by a hot goaltender in Jake Oettinger.

“He made big saves,” Matthews said. “We had some good looks to get opportunities tonight and he made some big saves, that’s why he’s one of the best goalies in the world. Sometimes you gotta tip your cap. But definitely thought we deserved better … I thought we created some good offence. We’ve been talking about getting outshot, went the other way for us tonight.”

As Toronto’s captain, Matthews has been steadfast in seeing positives they can take from every game, but ultimately they’re still dropping crucial matches. But with another game fast approaching, there’s no time to dwell, and as Matthews reiterates, you have to keep moving forward.

“Pick yourself back up and go out,” he said. “We got one more game at home before the break. Making sure that we come out with urgency right from the start.”

The Maple Leafs host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, hungry to get back in the win column before their four-day holiday break.