Published Mar 07, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 1\u00a0hour 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 Maple Leafs could play a spoiler role down the stretch.<\/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 For now, they remain plain rotten.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Ten points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the Leafs on Saturday night tumbled into a first-period hole against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena and lost 5-2.<\/p>\n The Leafs\u2019 seven-game winless streak (0-5-2) is their longest since the 2014-15 season, when the club had an 11-game skid (0-10-1). That was the longest winless streak in club history that did not include ties.<\/p>\n This time around, the Leafs have not won since Feb. 3, when they beat the Oilers 5-2 in Edmonton in their final game before the break for the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, the Leafs are winless in eight home games since beating Vancouver on Jan. 10, going 0-6-2. Boos started with less than two minutes to play.<\/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 Lightning, meanwhile, ended a four-game losing streak.<\/p>\n For the first time in 2025-26, the Leafs allowed four goals in the first period. After Matias Maccelli opened the scoring for Toronto, Tampa\u2019s Ryan McDonagh, Jake Guentzel, Corey Perry and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored in less than 10 minutes.<\/p>\n Brandon Hagel scored an empty-net goal late in the third before Nick Robertson replied in the last minute for the Leafs.<\/p>\n Three takeaways:<\/p>\n DOMI DEALING WITH IT<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear the Leafs had some emotional baggage from the departures of Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton and Nicolas Roy prior to the NHL trade deadline on Friday, but that should be an impact only to a certain point.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard, yep, for sure, but we\u2019re pros here,\u201d Max Domi said. \u201cThis is what we get paid to do. We get paid to show up every single day and try to be the best version of yourself on and off the ice.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where you show your character. I think we have a group in here that no one\u2019s going to quit, no one\u2019s going to go away. It\u2019s a tough league, and when things aren\u2019t going your way like this, it\u2019s even harder.\u201d<\/p>\n So where is that character, then? The Leafs have 18 games to demonstrate they have an amount that\u2019s measurable, but we\u2019ll have our doubts until we actually see it on a consistent basis. If at all.<\/p>\n Talk means nothing in the standings \u2014 the Leafs have proven that time and time again throughout 2025-26 \u2014 and an ability to rise above it and be constructive has eluded the group more often than not.<\/p>\n NO PROBLEM WITH THE BOOS<\/p>\n The boos grew louder in the final minutes of the third period.<\/p>\n Earlier, when Anthony Stolarz made a routine glove save after the Tampa barrage in the first period, he got the Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The boos undoubtedly will not only continue at home, and likely get worse, if the uninspired play doesn\u2019t improve.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no guarantee of that happening, and it\u2019s probably a good thing that the Leafs have just seven home games remaining.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are going to be frustrated, they\u2019re spending their hard-earned money come watch us play,\u201d Stolarz said. \u201cIt\u2019s just more motivation for us. We have to find a way to crawl out of this, put together a complete 60 minutes. Everyone\u2019s playing playoff hockey.<\/p>\n \u201cThe standings are so tight that every single game is important. Teams are going to be jamming it down our throats, whether they\u2019re in a playoff spot or if they\u2019re working to try to get in a spot. They\u2019re going to be working hard. We\u2019re going to have to match their intensity.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Don\u2019t count on it. The Leafs aren\u2019t going to figure it out now.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t blame them,\u201d defenceman Simon Benoit said of the catcalls. \u201cWe want to win as much as them.\u201d<\/p>\n The Leafs\u2019 play indicates otherwise. After a visit on Tuesday to Montreal to play the Canadiens, the Leafs will play host to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.<\/p>\n SIMON SAYS NO CALL<\/p>\n Benoit survived his first go through the rumour mill in the days leading up to the deadline. He spent Friday afternoon at Ripley\u2019s Aquarium with his family and was relieved when his phone didn\u2019t ring.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the first year I was actually involved, I would say,\u201d Benoit said. \u201cI don\u2019t have any (no-) trade clause or anything, (so the possibility of being dealt) is part of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Benoit is under contract through the end of next season with a salary cap hit of $1.35 million US. It\u2019s an affordable price for a third-pair D-man, but there\u2019s no question that the Leafs will have to orchestrate some fairly significant change on their blue line during the off-season.<\/p>\n Only Troy Stecher will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.<\/p>\n Whether Morgan Rielly is asked to waive his no-movement clause this summer will be the biggest question regarding the Leafs\u2019 defence corps. That would happen only if the trade market where Rielly is concerned improves.<\/p>\n For Benoit, he\u2019s simply glad he\u2019s still a Leaf.<\/p>\n \u201cI love being here,\u201d Benoit said. \u201cThey gave me a chance. I want to play for this logo. I try my hardest out there. 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 Terry Koshan straight to your inbox Sign Up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-521925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"stolarz](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ddd-e1772938605368.jpg\")
Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz reacts after getting scored on by the Tampa Bay Lightning during first period NHL action in Toronto, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. Photo by Frank Gunn \/THE CANADIAN PRESSArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.7.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n![\"opening](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.7.1\/websites\/images\/newsletters\/icon-sun-middaySun.svg\"\/){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n
Bronx cheer from some corners of the rink.<\/p>\n
(but) it\u2019s not going the way I wish it would go.\u201d<\/p>\n