Well, any concern that the Maple Leafs would sweep their Western road trip and possibly fool themselves ahead of the trade deadline can be put to rest now.
The Leafs left little doubt in Seattle, immediately giving up a goal just 1:21 into the game to set the tone for this 5-2 loss. Off the rush, it was a bit of a broken play; Brandon Carlo actually blocked the initial pass, but it bounced right back to Jared McCann, who found a trailing Matty Beniers because Matias Maccelli was slow on the backcheck. Beniers made no mistake wide open in the slot.
If a team is serious about winning, which the Leafs obviously aren’t, it simply can’t do this to start a game. There was a lucky bounce for Seattle, but the Kraken had numbers regardless, as they went down the ice not even two minutes into the game for a clear-cut scoring chance. It’s bad hockey from the Leafs. They hadn’t won in five games, were looking for a positive to spark their game, and started like this instead.
The period started to turn around for the Leafs after a good top-line shift in which Bobby McMann drew a penalty. They put together a good power play, even though they didn’t score, and generally carried play from that point forward.
The Leafs were rewarded with a tying 1-1 goal. Jake McCabe did well to push up in the offensive zone and keep the puck in, and after a Nic Roy battle, the puck poked free to the high slot, where Nick Robertson leaned into one for his 12th goal of the season. By the time the period ended, the Leafs outshot the Kraken 11-9, out-attempted them 18-11 at five-on-five, and largely carried the play, hemming the Kraken in their zone on more than a few occasions (the top line, in particular).
Troy Stecher took a penalty towards the end of the first period, and after the Leafs killed it off, he got a chance coming out of the box. For a second, it looked like Stecher was giving the Leafs the lead when his initial shot off the rush rebounded right back to him. A few minutes later, Auston Matthews attempted a wrap-around that he sent wide when it looked like he had a lot of net available.
Those were the Leafs’ best chances to take the lead at any point in this game. About five minutes later, the Kraken took the lead and never looked back, scoring twice in 31 seconds.
The first goal came during a Kraken push. The puck went low to high, where Jaden Schwartz sent a good low shot towards the net. At the same time, Anthony Stolarz can’t kick the rebound out right to the middle of the ice. A really bad rebound went right to Shane Wright, who made no mistake.
On the next shift, the Leafs gave up another. It summed up why the Leafs struggle defensively, as the neutral zone was an absolute freeway for Seattle. Frederick Gaudreau, who recorded his 15th point of the season in his 47th game, went untouched through the entire neutral zone and crossed the Leafs blue line with speed:
I mean, this is a joke. This isn’t Connor McDavid winding up.
On the goal itself, it looked like Montour heeled it, but it went right through Stolarz. It’s not a terrible goal to allow, but a team needs some saves, too.
That 3-1 goal effectively iced the game, even though over half of the 60 minutes still remained. The Leafs did create some chances in the second to cut the lead, including a power play, and out-attempted the Kraken 24-8 in the period overall, but they lost the period 2-0. Again, there was the distinct feeling that nothing was going right for the Leafs.
The only visible emotion shown by the Leafs was towards the Kraken’s Jacob Melanson, who was running around the ice. The Leafs started to take exception, namely Simon Benoit, along with Brandon Carlo and Scott Laughton. In terms of any real emotion, energy, or frustration as the team struggles badly, it was mostly nonexistent, though.
In the third period, the Leafs did claw back within a goal on a power play. Morgan Rielly sifted one from the point for not only his first power-play goal of the season, but the first power-play goal by any Leafs defenseman in 2025-26. It’s a minor footnote, but it actually was a really effective power play, and the Leafs could have scored three times before they actually did.
However, as we have become accustomed to, the Leafs gave the goal right back. This time, it was two and a half minutes after making it 3-2, as Maccelli committed a brutal giveaway up the wall, allowing Wright to walk right in and roof one. Maccelli was benched for the rest of the night. The Leafs made a push and created some scoring chances when down 4-2, but it really sucked the wind out of their sails.
Nobody will want to hear it after this loss — and it’s completely fair — but over all situations, the Leafs out-attempted the Kraken 66-38. They outplayed them in this game and generally carried the play, but their defensive miscues are killers, and Stolarz isn’t bailing them out of anything at this point. All in all, this looked like a hockey game between two bad teams, with one playing slightly better in the run of play and the other capitalizing on bad mistakes by the opposition.
Post-Game Notes
– This might be a case of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, but I don’t know how Craig Berube stomached the five-game homestand as a coach and thought, “I’m going to run the exact same lines and D pairs I had pretty much that entire time, except for one change: flipping Calle Jarnkrok and Easton Cowan on my bottom two lines.”
– The Matthew Knies–John Tavares–Matias Maccelli line had been outscored 6-10 heading into this game, and while their underlying numbers are otherwise strong, it’s painfully obvious that the trio lacks speed. Couple it with the grind of the season clearly catching up to Tavares at age 35, and well, this is what you get. They couldn’t backcheck properly on the first goal of the game, and they were brutal through the neutral zone on the third Kraken goal while Frederick Gaudreau carved right through them for a clean entry. Maccelli then handed Seattle a goal after the Leafs brought it back to a one-goal deficit. Berube might not have many options, but how on earth are these three still together? It was actually funny to see Berube snap on the bench after the third goal against for the line. They were terrible all night, coach! Maybe change it up? You’re allowed to see what’s happening on the ice and adjust. It’s part of the job.
– Related: How are these defense pairings still the same? They, for some unknown reason, refuse to go back to Jake McCabe–Troy Stecher, which actually worked for them during their best stretch of play as a team this season. It’s the same story with the Rielly-OEL pairing.
– Again, you can gripe about the options available to Berube, but how is he running the exact same lineup night after night while the team racks up losses? It’s the definition of the Simpsons meme, “I’ve tried nothing, and I’m all out of ideas.” Effectively changing nothing feels like a checked-out coach to me, and the team is certainly matching that attitude on the ice.
– By contrast, Nick Robertson was once again really good in this game. He scored their first goal, drew a penalty, forechecked hard, and created a few other chances. Naturally, he didn’t move up the lineup essentially at all, save for appearing during the 6v5, if we want to count that.
– It was a season-low 9:44 for Easton Cowan in this one as Berube continues a development plan nobody else can even remotely understand. Cowan is actively getting worse as this miserable season progresses, and his minutes are trending downward as a result.
– In related news, this January, Jacob Quillan has played in two AHL games (he scored four points in one of those games) and one game in the NHL, where he played six minutes and 15 seconds. Do I personally believe he should play games with the Leafs so they can see what, if anything, they might have in him? Yes. But even if they don’t, let him play with the Marlies and keep developing. The sheer incompetence across the board is honestly jarring. Cowan isn’t developing, Quillan isn’t playing, and the same mediocre lines and pairings are rolled out night after night. As the season slipped away, all the GM has managed to do is claim Stecher on waivers.
– Only one team has given up four-plus goals in more than the Leafs (26) this season: the Vancouver Canucks (28). In the last nine games, they have allowed 45 goals overall, something they haven’t done since December 1991. I am not sure a defenseman has ever won the Norris Trophy after playing only 11 games, but Chris Tanev has a case.
Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts
Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts
Game Highlights: Kraken 5 vs. Maple Leafs 2