Published Mar 05, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 4\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 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 The end of the 2025-26 Maple Leafs season can\u2019t come soon enough.<\/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 The Leafs took another one on the chin on Thursday night, losing 6-2 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n We\u2019re talking about falling to a Rangers team that not only is last in the Eastern Conference, but had gone 18 games at home without winning in regulation. The Rangers had most recently won in regulation at MSG on Nov. 24 against St. Louis.<\/p>\n Alexis Lafreni\u00e8re scored the winner at 5:38 of the third period, breaking a 2-2 tie, when he tipped a Mika Zibanejad shot past Leafs goalie Joseph Woll.<\/p>\n Jaroslav Chlemar, Zibanejad and Will Cuylle, into an empty net, also scored in the third as the Leafs surrendered without so much as a whimper.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, definitely frustrated,\u201d Leafs coach Craig Berube told media in New York after the game. \u201cPissed off.<\/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 \u201cThe games are right there and we don\u2019t push as a team hard enough to win them.\u201d<\/p>\n With the National Hockey League trade deadline<\/a> coming at 3 p.m. EST on Friday, the Leafs again went the asset management route and scratched forwards Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton and defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the second game in a row.<\/p>\n Each of the three is a strong candidate to be dealt.<\/p>\n Three takeaways:<\/p>\n ENOUGH IS ENOUGH<\/p>\n The Leafs, if they\u2019re capable, need to get over themselves.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re going to play for pride and the guy next to you in the dressing room, what are you waiting for?<\/p>\n We get it. This group hasn\u2019t been in this position in the standings before. The looming trade deadline has been a different animal this year because the club is selling, not buying. So there\u2019s more concern in the room than what there has been in the past.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Still, though, the response has been to go curl up and wait for it all to go away?<\/p>\n That\u2019s how the Leafs have been playing since the break for the Winter Olympics ended. They\u2019re 0-4-2 since the U.S. beat Canada in overtime to win gold in Milan.<\/p>\n It will get no easier, not that it would, once the deadline passes. The Leafs\u2019 next seven matches, starting on Saturday at home against Tampa Bay, are against teams presently in a playoff position.<\/p>\n Since Jan. 12, when the Leafs<\/a> briefly climbed into a wild-card spot with a win in Colorado, Toronto is 4-10-4 in 18 games.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s tough during this stretch,\u201d captain Auston Matthews<\/a> told media afterward. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been easy, with the results, the trade deadline, all that stuff.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we have to find a way to bear down and find a way to get a hold of one of these games and turn the tide.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Said Woll: \u201cIt sucks. It sucks losing. It sucks being in this position. I haven\u2019t been in this position since I\u2019ve been here, and it\u2019s not fun, selling or whatever that might be. It sucks. I hate it. It\u2019s way more fun when you\u2019re winning. We have to get out of this slump regardless of what the rest of this season looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n We apologize, but this video has failed to load.<\/p>\n Play VideoMATTHEWS CAN\u2019T SCORE<\/p>\n Matthews\u2019 goal slump has hit 10 games, his longest drought in the NHL since his rookie season, when he went 13 games without scoring in October\/November of 2016.<\/p>\n Matthews has one goal in his past 14 games.<\/p>\n \u201cI think these last three games (18 shots on goal in total), I\u2019ve had a lot of good chances,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cSometimes you go through these stretches and you have to grind your way out of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n If there is a coaching change once this wasted season is over, whoever takes over from Berube will have to strive to unlock Matthews\u2019 offensive talents. Of course, that\u2019s if Matthews wants to be part of the Leafs going forward. There hasn\u2019t been any indication that he wants to leave, yet who knows what the off-season will bring?<\/p>\n Matthews has 26 goals, well short of where he should be. He doesn\u2019t get the space he once did and as a result his lethal shot mostly has been missing.<\/p>\n![\"shesterkin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/nyrweb-e1772766739554.jpg\")
New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin eyes a rebound as Leafs Matias Maccelli circles the net behind him on Thursday, March 5, 2026, in New York. Photo by Frank Franklin II \/AP PhotoArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.7.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
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