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But instead of focusing on the way in which his side were outplayed in the final 40 minutes of the season, Mallinder wants the Saints to remain positive about a wonderful first-half showing and an outstanding season overall.
"The feeling is one of absolute pride. I'm honoured to lead that side," said Mallinder, who had guided Northampton to eight straight wins in this year's tournament.
"I told them to be proud, to get their heads up and just be very, very proud of the performance.
"We've had a brilliant run in this Heineken Cup. We gave it our best shot. We had a tremendous first half but Leinster are a quality side and they showed that in the end.
"We'll come back strong. We've always improved. We got to the quarter-final last year, we've made the final this year and we said in the huddle after the game, 'Let's see if we can win it next time'."
Mallinder could hardly of dreamt of a better start at the Millennium Stadium as Saints raced into a commanding position thanks to a hat-trick of tries from Phil Dowson, Ben Foden and Dylan Hartley.
The Saints scrum was the dominant force throughout the first period as Hartley, Brian Mujati Soane Tonga'uiha and co gave the English outfit the perfect platform from which to attack.
But it was a different story in the second half as Leinster hit back at scrum time, allowing their dynamic back row and an inspired Jonathan Sexton to steam roller Saints into submission.
"We talked about trying to get on top in the front row," added Mallinder.
"They worked so, so hard. We took our chances; Stephen (Myler) put us in good positions and kept the scoreboard ticking with his kicking. It was a fantastic first half.
"The message at half time was that, 'You've got to try and keep paying here'.
"I told them to keep doing exactly what they were doing. But we just ran out of steam against an extremely dangerous Leinster side who can score from anywhere.
"We were tired, you could tell that at half time. We had some tired bodies. Dylan had taken a knock in the first half and he wasn't quite 100 per cent. It was a case of, 'Come on lads, dig in for 40 more minutes'.
"They were exhausted, they were shot. It would have been nice if we hadn't had a full on game the week before. Unfortunately that long season probably just took its toll a little bit.
"Watching Leinster against Ulster, they managed to take a few players off - they probably managed to get their five best players off the field - but we couldn't do that against Leicester. I think the quality of the squads did show.
"It was a tremendous effort and you cant have asked for anything more from the players. It was a full on game, it was very, very fast and all the players involved deserve a lot of credit.
"Of course it is disappointing losing a Heineken Cup Final but in time we will reflect on what a great season it has been for us."
