The Toronto Maple Leafs are running out of answers and time. After the Olympic break, the Leafs have dropped three straight games and now sit at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. With just 22 games remaining, their playoff hopes are smoke.
The latest setback, a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, sparked an unfiltered reaction from a former Leafs enforcer.
Former Enforcer Rips Into the Leafs
Toronto entered the week needing momentum. Instead, they were handed a 4-2 loss on Wednesday and a 5-1 defeat to the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Then came Saturday’s collapse against Ottawa.
In Saturday’s game, the Leafs started strong, scoring within the first five minutes. But from that point on, it unraveled. Ottawa dominated the shot clock, outshooting Toronto 16-2 in the first period and 15-8 in the second. The Leafs held a slight 13-9 edge in the third. But the overall total heavily favored the Senators, 40-23.
Across the three-game slide, Toronto has been outscored 14-5 and outshot 113-87.
Former Leafs enforcer Jay Rosehill, who spent three seasons with the team, vented his frustration on X. “25 to 4 are the shots?? At what point does this group show an ounce of f**king pride?! It’s always been accountability with them. The only common denominator is the players. They don’t hold themselves to any standard at all,” Rosehill wrote.
Against the Senators, Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly opened the scoring less than three minutes in, beating Linus Ullmark through the pads off an Auston Matthews pass. But from there, the game tilted heavily in Ottawa’s favor.
After Rielly’s opener, Thomas Chabot tied it later in the period, and Dylan Cozens gave Ottawa the lead early in the second with a goal into an open net after a deflection.
Drake Batherson extended the lead to 3-1 following a Toronto turnover. But William Nylander responded just 51 seconds later to make it 3-2. Batherson struck again after Toronto’s offside challenge was unsuccessful. Cozens added his second on the power play to make it 5-2, chasing Joseph Woll from the crease.
After the game, Leafs captain Auston Matthews didn’t hide his disappointment. “I thought we started better. I don’t know, we just kind of lost it there,” Matthews said. “Just really disconnected throughout all three zones. Just bad, fairly embarrassing to be honest with you.”
He echoed the same word Rosehill used: pride. “We need to have more pride in our play no matter what the situation is. We just have to have more pride in our game and we didn’t have that tonight.”
Toronto now sits eight points away from a playoff spot and the margin for error is gone.
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The Leafs will try to regroup on Monday when they face the Philadelphia Flyers.
