By now, the Toronto Maple Leafs should know better. Up 3–1 in the series, staring at a short path to the second round, the Leafs have once again managed to turn the highway into a tightrope.
After another emotionally vacant performance in a 3–0 loss to the Ottawa Senators, they still technically lead the series 3–2—but emotionally? Psychologically? Momentum-wise? You’d be forgiven for thinking the Sens are the ones ahead.
Because it’s not just that the Leafs lost. It’s how they lost.
Let’s not sugarcoat it: Toronto’s top players ghosted, again. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, the guys this entire roster is structured around, weren’t just ineffective. They were on the ice for every goal against. Matthews, in particular, had a rough night.
He was directly involved in multiple defensive breakdowns and fanned on what should have been a routine finish on a 2-on-1. For someone considered the best pure goal-scorer of his generation, his impact was shockingly absent.
One goal in five games—and that one off a Marner no-look pass that confused more people than it beat, isn’t good enough. It’s playoff hockey. Your best players can’t just be there. They have to tilt the game.
Instead, they’re tilting heads in frustration.
Even the team’s attitude looked off from puck drop. Nerves were everywhere: fanned shots, shanked passes, hesitant decisions. At least five Leafs misfired on good looks in the opening 10 minutes. Fans know this posture by now, the classic “playing not to lose” body language that’s haunted this group in springs past.
Leafs are failing to convert, again
And look, the Leafs did generate chances. Slot-driving opportunities favored them 24–10. They had more offensive-zone time. But what does that mean when you’re not bearing down and finishing? How many more empty power plays can they stomach before the word “liability” becomes their actual brand?
The Matthews line, which had previously held strong defensively, finally cracked. Thomas Chabot’s goal—helped by a subtle but effective pick from Claude Giroux and a screen from Tkachuk—was the first five-on-five goal against for that top unit all series. It might have opened the floodgates. Because what followed was not a storm of Leafs pushback, but another round of passive, predictable, and frankly fragile hockey.
Then came the breaking point: another power play, another disaster. Matthews lobbed a soft, lazy pass to the point, something that doesn’t belong in NHL regular season play, let alone in a playoff series. It led directly to the Senators’ second shorthanded goal in as many games. That’s not just a mistake. That’s a meltdown.
You want turning points? That was it.
Sure, the Senators added a third. But the game was already over. The air was already out of the building. The Leafs had already surrendered the one thing they’ve been trying to claim for years—control.
Now? The ghosts are back.
Also Read: Why Anthony Stolarz was always the answer as Leafs ride his Goaltending into Game 6
The Maple Leafs may lead 3–2, but it feels like they’re behind. Their stars are shrinking, their power play is imploding, and their opponent is smelling blood. This team, as constructed, has always been a stars-and-scrubs gamble. When the stars shine, they’re unbeatable. But when they don’t? There’s nothing left to fall back on.
If Matthews doesn’t show up in Game 6—really show up—this series isn’t just going seven.
It’s going south. Fast.