The Maple Leafs are in a rut, and Tuesday night’s 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche only deepened it. Toronto has now dropped four straight and six of its last seven, and the frustration around the team is getting louder by the day.
After the loss, John Hiller didn’t try to dress anything up. His message to the group was blunt: nobody is coming to save them.
“Work your way out. It’s the only way.
You can’t hope. You can’t be average.
You’ve got to work your way out. Every guy.”
That kind of honesty comes with the territory when a team is spiraling, and Hiller knows it. He also knows the criticism is earned.
“Our results suck. You can write those stories.
There’s no question, and we deserve that,” he said.
The coach didn’t pin everything on one issue, either. He saw inconsistency all over the ice, including in key moments that swung the game.
After Jack Roslovic tied it, Toronto quickly surrendered the go-ahead goal, and Hiller pointed to the sequence rather than a single mistake. “We made multiple poor decisions.
Multiple,” he said.
There were a few bright spots in the mess. Darren Raddysh and Easton Cowan each finished with a goal and an assist, and Roslovic added his ninth goal of the season. Toronto’s top line, with Auston Matthews in the middle, also had a strong night in one specific area, outshooting MacKinnon’s line 19-8 in shot attempts and holding MacKinnon off the scoresheet.
Still, the bigger picture is hard to ignore. Fans are running out of patience, and plenty of them have zeroed in on the goalie situation.
Some want Anthony Stolarz to take over as the starter, while Sergei Bobrovsky continues to take heat. Against Colorado, Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 27 shots, and he has now allowed at least three goals in 12 of his 13 starts since joining the Maple Leafs.
Hiller isn’t putting the blame on one player, though. He sees the same problems across the lineup and says the team has yet to put together enough complete hockey through 20 games to win consistently. He also said he likes his team and believes it will come around.
Toronto gets its next shot Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, who come in at 13-3-4. It’s another tough test, but maybe that’s exactly what the Maple Leafs need right now: a chance to stop talking about fixes and finally show they can put together 60 minutes.
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For a team that has spent plenty of time searching for answers on the back end, the appeal is obvious: this is about more than patching a hole for a playoff run. The challenge is finding a fit that makes sense now and later, and the names being discussed suggest Toronto is at least aiming high as the deadline approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Chris Tanev Concern Is Starting To Feel Bigger For The Leafs
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The concern is not just about availability, either. There has been growing analysis suggesting Tanevs defensive impact has slipped in recent seasons, which puts added pressure on Toronto to get the most out of him without overextending him. And with other roster questions still hanging over the club, from John Tavaress performance to the way goaltending numbers are being read, the Leafs are left trying to sort through a few uneasy trends at once while Anthony Stolarzs play continues to trend in a more encouraging direction. [Read more 🡒]
Leafs Losing Streak Has Jim Hiller Searching For Signs Of Life
After a 5-2 loss to Minnesota, Jim Hiller spent much of his postgame session circling back to the same problem that has followed the Leafs through a five-game losing streak: the mistakes are piling up, and they are costing them at the worst possible moments. The coach pointed to the breakdown that led to Matt Boldys winning goal and said the group has to clean up its play if it wants to stop the slide.
Hiller also weighed in on several individual performances, including Gavin McKenna, John Tavares and William Nylander, as he tried to separate the rough results from what he still believes the team can become. There was frustration in the room, but also a measure of cautious optimism, with Hiller suggesting the Leafs still have enough talent to turn things around if the details start to improve. [Read more 🡒]