The Toronto Maple Leafs are not in a good place right now. If you’ve tuned into any games post-deadline, you didn’t need me to tell you that. The Leafs have lost eight games in a row and routinely look checked out of games, whether it’s an intentional thing or not.

One of the main storylines about the Leafs’ losing streak is captain Auston Matthews’ goalless streak. While the temperature was kept low for a while because he was still tacking on assists, he’s now on the verge of tying his previously-longest goalless streak at 13 games, which occurred in the first two months of his rookie season.

Head coach Craig Berube believes that Matthews’ goalless streak can be chalked up to tough luck rather than poor play.

“That’s a good question,” Berube said. “I’m not gonna get into all that right now. I think he’s had some tough luck, to be honest with you. It’s not from him getting his opportunities, it’s not every night, but he gets a lot of opportunities. Whether it’s post, the goalie makes a save, all sorts of things that probably play into it. Hopefully he can break out of it tonight.”

Matthews will have rookie Easton Cowan and fellow star William Nylander on his wings as they look to break their losing streak. Berube said he liked what he saw from Cowan on the top line on Tuesday night.

“They’ve had some good stretches at times,” Berube said. “Early on in the season they were together for a bit and did some good things. Good opportunity for Cowan, they did a good job in Montreal, and that’s why I made that switch.”

The Maple Leafs’ lineup will have another debut tonight, with forward Michael Pezzetta having been recalled from the Marlies on Thursday morning and set to make his Leafs debut. Berube said he’s looking for Pezzetta to add a burst of energy to the lineup.

“He’s a guy that’s going to bring in lots of energy, and, you know, strong skater, so, we’ll see how it goes.”