The time has come to accept a grim reality for this Toronto Maple Leafs season. Tuesday night’s 7-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres was pretty much the inflexion point in what has otherwise been one of the toughest seasons in the last decade.
The loss set the Leafs back eight points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. While Toronto hasn’t been eliminated from postseason contention by any means, the math is not on its side.
As the TV broadcast pointed out, the Maple Leafs would need to win about 20 of their last 30 games just to have a shot at the final playoff slot. Sure, that’s doable. But has there been any indication that the Leafs have the chops to pull that off?
Tuesday night’s game was a must-win. They held on through 40 minutes, but the Sabres pulled away. That’s been the story of the Leafs’ season. They flutter around for 40 minutes and pull off miraculous comebacks. They hang tough for two periods and then flounder in the final frame.
There haven’t been consistent 60-minute games that can lead to sustainable success. We can nitpick the precise moments in which the Maple Leafs faltered, gave up crucial goals, or just misplayed pucks like the Alex Tuch goal 16 seconds into the third period.
The bottom line is that the Leafs did not get the job done when they needed to. Now, the only recourse, it seems, is to invoke a higher power that can transform the Leafs into a juggernaut just to get into the postseason.
But being rooted in reality, the odds are not in Toronto’s favor. Moneypuck gives the Leafs a generous 4.5% of making the playoffs. And even if the Maple Leafs did make the playoffs, assuming a remarkable turnaround, do the Leafs have the sort of team that could make a strong playoff run?
The conversations that should have happened five years ago will inevitably happen this summer. The organization will need to decide if the current management team is the right one for the club moving forward.
The time has come to stick a fork in the Maple Leafs. The remainder of this season should be seen as more of an audition for jobs heading into next season.