TORONTO – There was no mincing words after the Toronto Maple Leafs’ latest loss, a 5-2 defeat to the visiting Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
“Just bad. Just fairly embarrassing, to be honest with you,” said Leafs captain Auston Matthews. “We need to have more pride in our play, no matter where we’re at, no matter what the situation is. We just have to have more pride in our game and we didn’t have that tonight.”
Matthews and the Maple Leafs have dropped three straight games coming out of the Olympic break on the heels of a three-game winning streak.
It’s getting dicey for the club which has made the playoffs in nine straight years — the longest active streak in the NHL — to ensure that run continues.
The Maple Leafs (27-24-9) entered action Saturday eight points out of a wild-card berth, and the road to get there is only more treacherous now.
“It’s hard. It’s the first time in a long time we’ve been in this position when we’re out looking in. So we gotta figure it out pretty quickly,” said forward William Nylander, who scored one of the Leafs’ goals. “Still not impossible, but we gotta play a lot better hockey if we want to be there.”
It was the Senators who looked like they wanted to be “there” a lot more.
Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens each scored twice, and Thomas Chabot also got on the board for the Senators, who improved to 29-22-8 on the season to boost their slim post-season chances. Cozens also added an assist.
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The Maple Leafs scored the first goal of the game thanks to Morgan Rielly, but they were outscored 1-0 and outshot 16-0 for the remainder of the first period.
The Senators would string together 19 consecutive shots and three straight goals to take control of the divisional battle and earn their first win over the Maple Leafs since Game 5 of their first-round playoff series last year, which Toronto took in six.
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For the Maple Leafs, the slow start marked a continuation of sorts from Thursday’s loss to the Florida Panthers, when Toronto was outscored 3-0 and outshot 16-7 in the first 20 minutes.
“Good first five minutes, I thought. Obviously got the first goal, which we’ve been searching for,” said Toronto defenceman Jake McCabe. “And then we s— the bed after that.”
While the Maple Leafs struggled to find answers for their lack of desperation as they watch their playoff fortunes fade, they each cited “disconnect” as a reason for their current skid.
“We’ve had trouble stringing together good segments of games consistently. It’s just been too much of a roller-coaster,” Matthews said.
The Maple Leafs had leaned on their pre-Olympic run for optimism toward a potential second-half surge.
Now, that spark is all but snuffed.
“When I look at the game or show tape or go over things, there’s a certain way we need to play the game. But I can’t give guys this (points to heart) or this (points to head) and they have to come with that. That’s on them. They gotta bring the heart and the competitiveness that’s needed,” head coach Craig Berube said.
“I can go in there and yell and scream at them all I want. That doesn’t do anything either.”
With the trade deadline approaching on Friday, the Leafs could look very different in a week’s time.
Toronto’s pending free agents include forwards Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton in addition to defenceman Troy Stecher. Blue liner Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who has one more season on his contract, is also a candidate to be moved.
Berube admitted that uncertainty could play into the Leafs’ struggles.
“But in saying that, those are all excuses. And we can’t make excuses. Until guys in there decide they want to play the right way and play as a team, that’s what you’ll get,” Berube said.
Rielly, the veteran defenceman and longest-tenured Maple Leaf, refuted a notion that the team is quitting.
“Obviously an effort like tonight given what’s at stake is confusing and unacceptable. So moving forward, we need to not allow that to happen again,” he said.
Matthews called the current skid a “tough stretch.”
“It’s never fun to lose. It’s never fun to lose in this kind of fashion, three games in a row. So it’s hard. It definitely wears on you, but we just have to be better. There’s no hanging our heads, there’s no feeling sorry for ourselves. Everybody’s gotta look in the mirror and be better.”
Toronto has three more games before the deadline, beginning Monday against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
MIXED REACTION FOR MATTHEWS
The Maple Leafs honoured each of their three Olympians during the first television break on Saturday. Sweden’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson and William Nylander, who returned home without hardware, received widespread applause.
The reception for gold medallist Matthews wasn’t as warm as the Team USA captain was met with boos from the crowd before they were drowned out by cheers. He stood on the bench to acknowledge the crowd.
American teammate Brady Tkachuk, the Senators captain, was jeered when he appeared on the arena’s big screen for the first time.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
