{"id":428032,"date":"2026-01-25T22:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T22:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/428032\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T22:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T22:46:12","slug":"maple-leafs-struggles-deepen-in-loss-to-avalanche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/428032\/","title":{"rendered":"Maple Leafs\u2019 struggles deepen in loss to Avalanche"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Colorado Avalanche centre Brock Nelson (11) scores one of his three goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday in Toronto, as the Leafs drop their fourth straight game in a disastrous five-game home stand.Sammy Kogan\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

On a positive note, the only chance the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> have of meeting the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights or the Minnesota Wild again this season will be if they reach the Stanley Cup final.<\/p>\n

However, unless they can break out of their current death spiral, they won\u2019t even reach the postseason, with the team still five points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after Sunday\u2019s 4-1 loss to the Avalanche.<\/p>\n

Combined with the week\u2019s earlier defeats to the Golden Knights and Wild \u2013 who, along with Colorado, represent three of the top four sides in the Western Conference \u2013 Toronto has picked up just one point from eight available so far during a five-game homestand that concludes Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.<\/p>\n

\u201cLosing at home here, it\u2019s worn on our team a little bit,\u201d head coach Craig Berube said after the team\u2019s fourth straight loss. \u201cBut that\u2019s pro sports, and we got to all pull it together here and get ready for Tuesday, and we need a win. That\u2019s the bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as anything else, the team\u2019s lack of urgency should concern both Berube and the Maple Leafs brain trust. <\/p>\n

On Friday, the team spotted Vegas a two-goal lead inside the first five minutes. On Sunday, the Leafs took a little longer but the result was the same, with Colorado taking the game by the scruff of the neck once Brock Nelson netted twice inside the opening 7:31, forcing Berube to call a timeout to try to get his team settled.<\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: With Carney in tow, Canada is taking no prisoners at the Milan Olympics<\/a><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t have the desired effect, with Toronto getting outshot 17-6 in the first period and providing next to nothing to get the home fans \u2013 many on the younger side, with Sunday\u2019s contest the team\u2019s annual Next Gen game \u2013 excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just, I think, mental mistakes, and just times where we just shoot ourselves in the foot, and then you\u2019re down 2-0 to the best team in the league,\u201d captain Auston Matthews said. \u201cAnd you end up having to chase the game for the rest of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that hole looked problematic after the first period, it was virtually insurmountable after 40 minutes. Both Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who will be spearheading Canada\u2019s quest for Olympic hockey gold in Milan next month, broke in on Joseph Woll with chances to put the game firmly beyond Toronto\u2019s reach, but the Leafs goaltender, who made 33 saves on Sunday, was equal to the challenge.<\/p>\n

But, with 67 seconds remaining in the period, he was unable to stop another famous Avalanche name from stretching the lead to three. Jack Drury, whose uncle Chris won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001, burst down the left wing, and had ample time and precision to pick the top corner over Woll\u2019s glove. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) made 33 saves for his team in their Sunday matinee game, but it wasn’t enough as the Avalanche were in control throughout a 4-1 win.John E. Sokolowski\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Despite the current rut, Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe and his teammates are sustained by the belief that they have what it takes to turn it around. The frustrating part is the inconsistency, particularly coming off a road trip \u2013 the team\u2019s Achilles heel this year, going 8-11-3 away from Toronto – where the team picked up five of the eight points on offer, including a 4-3 overtime win over the Avalanche in Denver on Jan. 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of really good players in here,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we\u2019ve got great depth throughout the lineup. We\u2019ve shown it this year. We\u2019ve put the good stretches together. Just came off a good stretch, frankly, before this home stand. So just got to get back to it quickly on an individual level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colorado, which looks on course to win the Presidents\u2019 Trophy for the fourth time with a 10-point lead at the top of the overall standings, barely broke a sweat to win the first of a four-game road trip. Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves in picking up his 14th win of the season.<\/p>\n

Berube had cautioned Sunday morning that his team needed to slow the Avs\u2019 fluid skaters with an aggressive forecheck. But despite outhitting the Avalanche 28-14, Toronto struggled to contain its speedy opponent, and Berube turned up the desperation stakes, pulling Woll with 5:30 remaining in the game to try to find a breakthrough. <\/p>\n

The tactic allowed Nelson, who will suit up for Team USA at the Olympics, to complete his fifth career NHL hat trick with his 27th goal of the season into the empty net off an assist from MacKinnon \u2013 his 88th point.<\/p>\n

Max Domi\u2019s seventh goal of the season came with 62 seconds remaining, but by then it was too little, too late.<\/p>\n

Now, following a fourth straight loss, Berube needs to pick his team up with an important divisional matchup against the Sabres looming large on Tuesday. After that, the Leafs head out on a Western road swing to Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton before the Olympic break begins on Feb. 6. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about coming together as a team and pulling out of this,\u201d Berube said. \u201cNo individual is going to play you out of it. It\u2019s a team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Colorado Avalanche centre Brock Nelson (11) scores one of his three goals against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[1018,1001,1019,967,991,1020,19,990,1008,1009,1004,992,989,1014,1016,1013,1007,1000,1030,993,994,1006,5,1002,1003,997,1021,20,5172,998,1025,1026,4,1028,1023,1027,786,1024,995,1011,1012,333,1010,1022,86,1015,66,31,5171,1017,1005,999,996,1029],"class_list":["post-428032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto-maple-leafs","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-hockey","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-maple-leafs","tag-mapleleafs","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-nhl","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-maple-leafs","tag-torontomapleleafs","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}