from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

There is no way to sugar-coat an oh-for-California road trip.

Not at this critical stage of the season. Not with a journey formerly known as the Valley of Death now taking you through cities featuring three of the NHL’s five-worst teams.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were left grasping for some positive talking points following Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks because, at this stage in the process, what else could they reasonably do?

They’re still holding a playoff spot and still holding out hope that things will start to fall in place with some key players soon set to return from injury. However, they also recognize the need to retreat into the safety of the team environment with the heat being dialled up around them.

“As a team, we’re trying to stay calm,” said Mitch Marner. “I know media’s a big part in this city that we play in. I think for our team it’s just about staying off that — the social media, people are just going to start getting on us and we’re a unit in here, we’re a team.

“We know what to say to each other to get ourselves going.”

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