The Toronto Maple Leafs 2025-26 has been a disaster in a variety of areas, from a high level of incompetence in their coaching, to a puzzling lack of recognition of their flawed roster construction by management early in the season when things could have been changed to positively impact their fortunes, but layered through that has been an unfortunate string of bad luck on the injury front and a lack of compete from players who are supposed to be part of the club’s leadership group.
The bad luck and tone deafness were both on display in the Leafs 6-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. Toronto appeared to be well on their way to their ninth straight loss after the Olympic break, as they were outshot 19-7 in the first period and trailed 3-1 midway through the second period. A power play goal by Auston Matthews snapped his 12-game goalless skid and narrowed the lead, but moments later the Leafs team captain was felled by a knee-on-knee hit by Ducks captain Radko Gudas.
Matthews laid on the ice for minutes before being assisted off the ice, but immediately after the dirty hit, none of his teammates came to his defense by going after Gudas, who was handed a five-minute major for kneeing and game misconduct. Toronto responded with a pair of power play goals during the major to take the lead and pulled away in the third with call-up Bo Groulx scoring his first goal as a Leaf short-handed and Matthew Knies into the empty net.
After the game, Leafs head coach Craig Berube did not have an update on the severity of Matthews injury. Initial fears are that it could be long-term, but he will be examined by the club’s medical staff on Friday to determine the extent. He also was asked for the team’s immediate lack of response to a cheap hit on their best player, and could offer no explanation.
“I mean, obviously, we should have had four guys in there doing something about it but it didn’t happen then.” Berube said. “I thought they responded in the third, It was a good response there, but we all would like everybody to get in there right away.”
Toronto responded with a higher level of physicality in the final 20 minutes, with fourth liner Michael Pezzetta, Morgan Rielly, Matthew Knies, and William Nylander laying out hits, but the rallying around Matthews and the team pushback was too little, too late. Rookie Easton Cowan displayed the right response, dropping gloves with Ducks defenseman Jackson Lacombe after linemate Nick Robertson was hit by the big blueliner.
“I didn’t have a good view of it just because the puck was going the other way, but it’s on me for not responding earlier to Gudas being there,” Rielly said. “Obviously, it’s a dirty hit. I didn’t understand how bad he got him in the moment, but I take full responsibility for not being the first one in there or being there quicker to respond.”
On the Matthews injury, the overriding concern for the Leafs is that it is not something long-term that requires surgery, lengthy rehabilitation and recovery. On the response to the hit, the excuses made after the game are just more evidence of a team that has checked out on the season, but that should not be a reason to not respond immediately when a teammate has been felled by an opponent.
It is very similar to what happened in Buffalo last season when their star forward, Tage Thompson, was hit by New Jersey’s Stefan Noesen. The players on the ice did not respond in the moment, and did not show any kind of pushback until the next game after being excoriated by the media and fanbase. There should be plenty of reciminations towards the players on his club, who appeared to have quit even before the Olympic break.
At this point, the only thing left to accomplish for the Leafs is to finish in the bottom five to not surrender their first round pick to Boston in the 2026 Draft, but how Leafy would it be if they chose to rally in the last month of the regular season and screwed up even that.
