The Toronto Maple Leafs needed a response - and they delivered one in emphatic fashion.
Coming off their roughest stretch of the season, the Leafs flipped the script with a clean sweep through Western Canada, capped by a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. It was the kind of road trip that doesn’t just boost morale - it resets a locker room. And while the playoff picture still looks uphill, with Toronto sitting five points back and the Olympic break looming, the message inside the dressing room is clear: there’s still belief.
Head coach Craig Berube made that belief known postgame, praising not just the results, but the way his group handled the adversity leading into the break.
“It’s a lot of confidence,” Berube said. “Three wins going into the break is a good boost for our team. I’m proud of the team and how they competed on the road trip.”
And they had to compete. This wasn’t a team coasting through soft matchups - this was a group that tightened up defensively, found timely offense, and got key contributions from up and down the lineup.
One name that stood out? Jake McCabe.
The veteran blueliner logged over 25 minutes in the win against Edmonton and added an assist for good measure. But it’s not just the numbers - it’s the role he’s taken on all season, especially in the absence of Chris Tanev. Whether he’s playing with a steady partner or adjusting on the fly, McCabe has been a rock on the back end.
“He’s been excellent all year,” Berube said. “He just does all of the dirty work for us and goes up against top lines.”
That kind of reliability doesn’t always show up on the scoresheet, but it’s invaluable to a team trying to stay afloat in the playoff race. And make no mistake - despite the outside noise, the Leafs aren’t folding.
With the trade deadline approaching and speculation swirling that Toronto could be sellers for the first time in the Auston Matthews era, Berube is keeping the focus internal. No distractions.
No headlines. Just hockey.
“This is part of the game, right? Even more so in Toronto,” Berube said.
“You can’t read all of it, you have to avoid it as best as you can. That’s part of being a good pro.
You have to put it behind you and focus on what you need to do for the Toronto Maple Leafs.”
It’s a message his players seem to be buying into - at least for now. The three-game win streak doesn’t erase the earlier struggles, but it does give the team something to build on when they return from the Olympic break.
Toronto now gets a much-needed pause, with their next game not until February 25 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. That gives them time to regroup, recharge, and maybe even reset the narrative.
Because if this road trip showed us anything, it’s that this team still has some fight left in it.