Published Nov 16, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll have to go way back to the lockout-shortened 2020-21 season to find the previous time the Maple Leafs lost five straight games.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Yet, it\u2019s not so hard to unearth why things have turned against Toronto in this November of negativity. Lack of detail defensively has, more often than not, come back to bite them in the butt.\u00a0That, and trying to replace injured players with reliable, experienced help, which they\u2019ll have to sort out before a potentially season-killing six-game road trip gets going in a week.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Our takeaways from a 3-2 loss to the Blackhawks on Saturday night that dropped the Leafs\u2019 road record to 1-5.<\/p>\n WOLL STREET JOURNAL<\/p>\n We\u2019ll\u00a0start with the most encouraging development of the night, Joseph Woll\u2019s successful return.<\/p>\n Whatever kept him at home for a month didn\u2019t equate to rust in his first start since April 17. He looked engaged in making 29 saves, though he couldn\u2019t be protected from a couple of coverage errors that have dogged the three goalies who\u2019ve preceded him this season.<\/p>\n Your Midday Sun<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The last thing Toronto needs is a full crisis in goal, but now he and Dennis Hildeby have put in efforts this week that would have been good enough for wins on last year\u2019s Leafs. They must hold the fort until Anthony Stolarz\u00a0\u00a0comes back in form, presumably late next week, from an upper-body injury that landed him on IR.<\/p>\n CONFIDENCE GAME<\/p>\n There have been some heads hanging low\u00a0in a pair of\u00a0one-goal losses\u00a0this week\u00a0after late letdowns cost points.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got to motivate them the best way I can,\u201d head coach Craig Berube told reporters in Chicago\u00a0after the game. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a kick in the ass, maybe it\u2019s positive\u00a0reinforcerment, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Saturday was not a blowout, however the plane ride home will hurt because it wasn\u2019t just a couple of wrong reads by defenceman Philippe Myers, who played for the injured Brandon Carlo. A quintet of veterans that had played well all night were on the ice when another failed clear ended up getting tipped past Woll for the winner with less than five minutes to play in the third period.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The Leafs out-hit and almost out-shot the Hawks and did a much better job on breakouts. They also kept the Blackhawks off the board in what\u2019s been a string of terrible second periods this autumn. The frustration was also at the other end, missing the net 28 times, which included ringing a few posts and\u00a0 crossbars, plus a couple of missed breakaways.<\/p>\n In\u00a0general,\u00a0they\u00a0seemed to digest\u00a0Berube\u2019s adage about\u00a0working harder to create chances in doubling their shots from Thursday\u2019s loss to the Kings. The goals by Nick Robertson and\u00a0Morgan\u00a0Rielly came from sustained forechecks.<\/p>\n Robertson was asked how the bench reacted when Teuvo Teravainen\u2019s tying goal undid much of their good work up to that stage early in the third period.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no secret, we haven\u2019t won a game in a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cSo maybe (it was) a little bit tense. You kind of have to re-group and get back at it.\u201d<\/p>\n Toronto did press hard with the net empty, without retrieving a point and is still near the bottom of the conference standings.<\/p>\n COWBOY BACK AT THE RANCH<\/p>\n Easton Cowan, whom Berube keeps reminding was not demoted to the Marlies for poor play, but for cap reasons, was flying in his return, playing left wing on a line with Nicolas Roy and Matthew Knies.<\/p>\n He had three shots and fired out of the\u00a0penalty\u00a0box after his first NHL\u00a0minor\u00a0to nearly beat Spencer Knight on a breakaway.\u00a0At just under 17 minutes, it was his second-most\u00a0ice time\u00a0in 11 games.<\/p>\n Cowan was also seen jawing a couple of times with Connor Bedard, who went 28 picks higher than himself in the 2023 draft at first overall. Neither forward had a point in the game, despite Bedard being on a tear this year, while the Leafs survived both of Cowan\u2019s minors.<\/p>\n If the Leafs don\u2019t have to keep sacrificing Cowan to the farm to accommodate a veteran \u2014 depending on who that is of course \u2014 that should reinforce belief he belongs in the NHL.<\/p>\n Lhornby@postmedia.com<\/p>\n X:\u00a0@sunhornby<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links SportsHockeyNHLToronto Maple Leafs Get the latest from Lance Hornby straight to your inbox Sign Up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-288562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"woll](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CP175320756-e1763303087589.jpg\")
Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll blocks a shot as Blackhawks winger Nick Foligno looks on at the United Center in Chicago on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Chicago. Photo by Matt Marton \/AP PhotoArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.9.2\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
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