Maple Leafs officially out of playoffs after loss to Sharks

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For the first time in nine years, Toronto will miss the playoffs

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Published Apr 03, 2026  •  Last updated 51 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

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Macklin Celebrini #71 of the San Jose Sharks and William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs go for the puck during the second period at SAP Center on April 02, 2026 in San Jose, California. Photo by Ezra Shaw /Getty ImagesArticle content

Leafs Nation is now officially Elimi-nation.

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For the first time in nine years, Toronto will miss the playoffs, a fate widely known for weeks, but reality as of Thursday night’s 4-1 empty net goal loss in San Jose.

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By winning three of its previous four, Toronto stayed alive into early April, but the only thing now to track in their remaining six contests is whether they fall a bit further into the bottom five of the NHL to recoup this year’s first-round draft pick from the Boston Bruins.

Coach Craig Berube challenged the team to find the same energy they did on Monday to win in Anaheim where revenge against Radko Gudas and the firing of general manager Brad Treliving were strong motivation.

But they gave up a first-shot goal and misfired on many opportunities to close the Sharks’ lead. The California trip concludes Saturday in Los Angeles, another team sure to be plugged in knowing it needs to beat the Leafs to sustain playoff hopes.

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John Tavares had the lone goal on the power play, following a near disastrous short-handed Sharks’ try. He’s within one of netting 30, but leading scorer William Nylander could not follow up his four points in Anaheim with anything at even strength and Matthew Knies was frustrated on good looks, too.

Our takeaways from the Shark Tank:

JAWS CLOSE IN

Young, hungry and playoff bound once described the Leafs of nearly a decade ago.

That’s now teams such as San Jose, who showed little wear and tear from travelling and beating Anaheim the night before, while the Leafs had Wednesday off. The home team had more to play for than Toronto, which is trying to impress a yet-to-be named general manager.

San Jose didn’t even need a point from kid dynamite Macklin Celebrini, who sits fourth in NHL points with 105, the fourth highest single season ever by a teenager with more to come.

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Fourth liner Zack Ostapchuk, Collin Graf, William Eklund and Adam Gaudette scored, while Kiefer Sherwood, second in NHL hits, had the Leafs looking over their shoulders. Though Toronto kept down its shot total against to 24, it still trailed in that department for the 57th time this year.

The Leafs gave grudging praise to the game plan of the Sharks, where everyone stuck to their jobs and lanes – the way the Leafs used to.

STOIC STOLARZ

Toronto’s goalie Anthony Stolarz was the victim of some early bad luck with an innocent looking cross ice pass that had enough juice to elude John Tavares, Ostapchuk then put it in off Simon Benoit’s stick. Fellow defenceman Jake McCabe didn’t get a clearing feed clean on the next goal and a third hit the backboard, Benoit and Stolarz, in finding its way in.

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Stolarz, who only had five defencemen in front of him much of the evening after Oliver Ekman-Larsson departed with an upper-body injury, made some nice saves to keep the Leafs in.

The OEL situation bears watching as he’s not missed a game this year because of health.

Berube, who had been giving more starts to Joseph Woll, came back with the older Stolarz after he helped fuel the emotion in Anaheim and brought a record of 6-0-0 against the Sharks.

BENOIT BELEAGUERED

While Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo get most of the grief for a decline in defensive play, Benoit’s game has suffered to the point of being scratched a couple of games. Both his positional and physical play have not been as noticeable this year, but he still has that reckless streak that pays off, making a huge diving stick save on Eklund on an empty net chance, then going up ice and hitting the crossbar.

Signed for US$1.35 million through next year, he’ll have to prove himself again next year, to a new boss and perhaps a new coach.

lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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