The Toronto Maple Leafs had a chance to claw their way back into the playoff picture Tuesday night. Instead, they let it slip-again.
Facing off against a Buffalo Sabres squad that’s also fighting for postseason life, the Leafs came out flat in a game that demanded urgency. And according to veteran defenseman Morgan Rielly, that missing sense of desperation may have been the difference.
“I think we need to be more desperate in those situations,” Rielly said postgame. “It was close most of the night… but them getting one early in the third hurts, and then we try to make a push. A little too late.”
The loss pushes Toronto eight points back of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. That’s a deep hole with the season’s final stretch looming-and a brutal five-game homestand (0-4-1) now in the rearview mirror.
What once felt like a promising turnaround after Marc Savard’s departure has unraveled quickly. The momentum is gone, and the Leafs are suddenly staring down another spring without playoff hockey.
This recent slide is especially frustrating given the stakes. The Leafs came home needing to capitalize, needing to bank points, needing to remind the league-and themselves-that they’re still in this fight. Instead, they’ve looked out of sync, outworked, and, as Rielly put it, not nearly desperate enough.
“To come home and have a chance to gain some ground, have a home stand, and then to not make it count-it’s not okay,” Rielly said. “This is new for me here, the situation that we’re in. It’s difficult to understand.”
What’s most puzzling is the contrast. This team found ways to battle on the road not long ago.
They dug in, played smart, and strung together meaningful wins. But back in front of their home crowd, with the season on the line, that resolve vanished.
The Leafs now hit the road for four games out west before the Olympic break. It’s no exaggeration to say this trip could decide the direction of their season-and potentially influence how GM Brad Treliving approaches the trade deadline. If the players want to keep the 2025-26 campaign alive, the time to show it is now.
Rielly believes the path forward isn’t about confidence-it’s about execution.
“Whenever you’re going through a tough stretch, your confidence waivers. But ultimately, that’s not an excuse,” he said.
“Guys have to go out there and play within structure, play hard, and execute. Once you start doing that, it comes back pretty quick.”
That’s the challenge now. Not just to believe they can turn it around, but to actually do it-shift by shift, game by game.
The margin for error is gone. The clock is ticking.
And if the Leafs want to keep their playoff streak alive, they’ll need to rediscover their urgency-fast.