{"id":498433,"date":"2026-03-11T17:31:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/498433\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T17:31:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:31:17","slug":"maple-leafs-coach-admits-its-hard-to-win-for-toronto-after-8th-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/498433\/","title":{"rendered":"Maple Leafs coach admits it\u2019s \u2018hard to win\u2019 for Toronto after 8th loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nothing has gone well for the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>, led by Auston Matthews<\/a>, since the NHL<\/a> season resumed after the Olympic break. The team lost 3-1 to its divisional rival, the Montreal Canadiens, extending its losing streak to eight games.<\/p>\n

This loss dropped their record to 27-27-11, and with the losses piling up, it is obvious that the pressure is high and games are fewer. Offense has been their strong point with 3.11 goals per game. However, it can\u2019t help them win unless their defense holds up, which allows 3.48 goals on average. The team often shows flashes of strong play but struggles to maintain momentum for sixty minutes.<\/p>\n

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MORE: Craig Berube accepts Maple Leafs\u2019 fault in loss to Canadiens<\/a><\/p>\n

William Nylander remains the team\u2019s top point producer with 60 points. Speaking to the media after the loss to the Canadiens, he admitted<\/a> the team shows only short bursts of good hockey during games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a lot of losses in a row now,\u201d Nylander said. \u201cAnd I mean, I think in parts of all the games we\u2019ve been playing, we\u2019ve been playing snippets of good hockey. And I mean, that\u2019s not how we want to play when we play a full game of good hockey. So, until we trend closer to that, I think it\u2019ll be positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<p>Toronto<\/p>\n

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) plays the puck against Montreal Canadiens defensemen Mike Matheson (8) and Noah Dobson (53) during the third period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Matthews has also contributed with 26 goals for the team despite a difficult stretch since his 69-goal season. However, individual performances have not translated into steady results for the Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n

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MORE: Paul Bissonnette warns Maple Leafs could face \u2018rebuild\u2019 if $53M star walks away<\/a><\/p>\n

Those involved understand that improvements must come quickly to stop the losing skid. But, head coach Craig Berube explained how winning becomes difficult when the team cannot sustain strong play.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough to say. But it\u2019s hard to win in this league if you don\u2019t get it,\u201d Berube said, talking about Nylander\u2019s comment on 60 minutes of play. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to dominate a period, but you have to be in the game. You have to create, and you have to defend\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this is going on, we have to keep the puck out of our net as much as possible. Hopefully find our groove with scoring. But we need more guys to dig in and contribute than there is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toronto continues to face heavy pressure in its market because of the long championship drought. Expectations remain high as fans wait for the franchise\u2019s first Stanley Cup<\/a> since 1967.<\/p>\n

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The post Maple Leafs coach admits it\u2019s \u2018hard to win\u2019 for Toronto after 8th loss<\/a> appeared first on The Big Lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nothing has gone well for the Toronto Maple Leafs, led by Auston Matthews, since the NHL season resumed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[532,58785,825,5,20,5172,1192,21,4,778,1291,58784,66,31,5171,1114],"class_list":["post-498433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto-maple-leafs","tag-auston-matthews","tag-cal-raleigh","tag-craig-berube","tag-hockey","tag-maple-leafs","tag-mapleleafs","tag-mike-matheson","tag-montreal-canadiens","tag-nhl","tag-noah-dobson","tag-paul-bissonnette","tag-randy-arozarena","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-maple-leafs","tag-torontomapleleafs","tag-william-nylander"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116211738945350990","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498433","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=498433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}