The Toronto Maple Leafs face a steep climb to a playoff spot as early-game lapses and a lack of desperation continue to plague them coming out of the Olympic break.
SUNRISE, Fla. — A three-week break in the schedule due to the Olympics should have helped the Toronto Maple Leafs feel refreshed and ready to chip away at their deficit in the NHL playoff race. Instead, they looked like a team lacking the details in their game. They made critical mistakes and were badly outplayed in consecutive games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.
If Toronto’s 4-2 loss to Tampa on Wednesday wasn’t bad enough, they followed that up the next night with one of their worst periods of the season. The Leafs were outshot 16-6 and surrendered three goals in quick succession. This allowed Florida to seize control early and never look back.
Brad Marchand opened the scoring at 3:18 with a wrist shot from the slot, assisted by Anton Lundell. It marked his 26th goal of the season. Evan Rodrigues followed with the first short-handed goal of his career on a breakaway, capitalizing on a Toronto turnover during a power play to make it 2-0.
The Panthers’ aggressive penalty kill continued to disrupt the Leafs’ setup, leading to another tally before the period ended. Marchand’s early marker ignited a flurry that highlighted Toronto’s inability to clear zones or generate forecheck pressure. Florida’s transition game overwhelmed the Leafs’ blue line, as turnovers and poor positioning contributed to the outburst. The Panthers generated high-danger chances at will while limiting Toronto to low-quality perimeter shots.
The Leafs looked better in the second and third periods, but they ultimately lost the game 5-1. While the team kept much of their focus on that late-game improvement, it offers little consolation now. With the Boston Bruins defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto moved to eight points out of a playoff spot with only 23 games remaining.
“We have a lot of hockey left and I get it’s not the start we want coming out of the break,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. “But we have to understand that if you play the second and third for 60 minutes, you give yourself a better chance to win. We’re capable of doing it, but we’ve got to do it for 60 minutes. We have no time to take shifts off and periods off. We’re not in that mode”.
When asked if it is concerning that the Leafs find themselves in the spot they’re in, captain Auston Matthews was blunt.
“I don’t think ‘concern’ is the right word,” Matthews said. “I just think we need more desperation, more fire—especially to start games. We know the position that we’re in and we need to be the more desperate team every single night”.
The Panthers entered the game behind the Leafs in the standings and showed the exact desperation Matthews described. With the win, Florida moved ahead of Toronto via a tiebreaker.
The NHL Trade Deadline is March 6. Based on what Toronto has shown over these two games, there is little reason to believe they will leap in front of the Washington Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators, Panthers, and Philadelphia Flyers just to reach the second wild card spot currently occupied by the Bruins.
Before the NHL paused for the Olympics, the Leafs rattled off three consecutive victories in Western Canada. But after this loss, Toronto's slim chances to make the playoffs went from 5.9 percent to 3.8 percent via MoneyPuck.com
All Toronto has is hope and hope isn't a strategy. It may be find to finally admit the inevitable and sell at the deadline.