In their first game back from the Olympic break, the Toronto Maple Leafs did MLSE CEO Keith Pelley no favours following his message to season ticket holders on Wednesday when he proclaimed that the team would do whatever was necessary to contend in 2025-26. Call it a wake-up call if you wish, even if Pelley truly believes that this team was just some better injury luck away from greater fortunes this season.
The Leafs played a pretty good first period against the Tampa Bay Lightning, outshooting them 8-4 and surviving two goals against thanks to another all-star performance from their video team made up of Sam Kim and Jordan Bean, who successfully overturned both goals for being offside. In the second period, Tampa Bay opened the scoring and it took less than a minute for them to add onto their opener following a defensive breakdown by the Leafs. The Lightning entered Wednesday night’s game with a record of 26-4-1 when they score the first goal, so the Leafs had a straight uphill line of a wall to climb to salvage their chances, and it didn’t happen.
Nikita Kucherov scored to make it 3-0 in the third period, and in what has to be a new record of sorts, I missed three goals near the end of the third period over the course of a two-minute washroom break. John Tavares scored to make it 3-1, Brayden Point scored his second of the game to make it 4-1 11 seconds later, and the Leafs got one back to make it 4-2 a little over 40 seconds after that off the stick of Matthew Knies.
4-2 is where with the final score would remain, and with Maple Leafs once again being severely outshot at 5v5 by the Lightning, it didn’t help their case to remain competitive past the deadline whatsoever. In past years, the Leafs would always sleepwalk through games against bottom feeders, much to the dismay of their fanbase and coaching staff, but they routinely showed up to play against fellow contenders. Tonight’s game proved that this team is not in the same stratosphere as the Lightning, and even if they do put together a miracle run and make the playoffs, it’s hard to find any confidence that they’ll last as long as seven games.
The Maple Leafs surely won’t let one loss out of the break wreck their confidence in making the big dance, but as has been the theme all year, each game is more important than the last. They’ll have a chance to lower the temperature with a win against the Florida Panthers, who are also struggling in the standings, but each loss like this takes them closer to the reality that they don’t have the juice to compete this year.
PRESENTED BY THE DAILY FACEOFF TRADE DEADLINE SPECIAL
The 2026 Trade Deadline Special is going LIVE March 6th. Join the Daily Faceoff crew on Friday, March 6th, from 11 AM-3:30 PM ET for wall-to-wall coverage of every single move as it happens. Get instant reaction, expert analysis, and exclusive insights from special guests throughout the day. Tune in LIVE on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and don’t miss a second of deadline day chaos.