On Saturday night, John Tavares became only the fourth NHL player in league history to collect 500 points with two different franchises, joining Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, and Ron Francis. It’s a massively impressive milestone that deserves acknowledgement, but you wouldn’t have found Tavares smiling about it following the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 4-3 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken.

“Yeah, I didn’t know that. It’s hard to process it right now considering the way the game finished for us,” Tavares said when asked what it meant to have his name among those players. “But, obviously I’ve been able to play for two great franchises, and to have the success I’ve had, I think, speaks volumes to my teammates, coaches, people that have been around me, and, everyone that’s been part of the journey. I’ve really enjoyed it and I just want to keep going.”

It’s not at all surprising that Tavares took as little of the credit for the milestone as possible, and along with the humility came accountability for the way the Leafs let the game slip away from them.

“Just a few too many mistakes, gave them some opportunities that, you know, we always had to kind of fight from behind,” Tavares told reporters following the loss.” So, you know, we have to clean up those details and we’ve got to be a more consistent team.”

While there are far worse places to be than 3-2-1 after six games, the Leafs have a very heavy home schedule and games against lots of opponents who are worse on paper. Picking up as many points early on is crucial, and Tavares says the team needs to stick to their game plan regardless of how things are going.

“Just the small differences in the game and even if not much is happening, just to continue to stick with it and not deviate,” Tavares continued. “Understand just the level of detail shift to shift and certainly in the second periods with the long changes.”

The Maple Leafs will look to get back on track on Tuesday night when they host the New Jersey Devils.