TORONTO — Craig Berube isn’t interested in learning anything more about his hockey team.
The former NHL enforcer believes the pieces are there for the Maple Leafs to make a playoff push and salvage their season.
A disastrous homestand means that hill has become an even tougher climb.
Long a doormat in the Atlantic Division, the surging Buffalo Sabres resigned Toronto to a third straight regulation loss at Scotiabank Arena with a 7-4 victory Tuesday that tied a bow on a forgettable Maple Leafs’ stretch — one potentially set to define what is quickly turning into a lost campaign — where they went an ugly 0-4-1 in their backyard.
“We gotta keep the puck out of our net, is what I learned,” Berube said of the last five games in a tense press conference after his players were booed off the ice. “Until we decide to do things right and keep the puck out of our net, and that’s the goalies included, this is what you’re gonna get.”
Asked about the identity of this Toronto iteration — the Stanley Cup-winning bench boss with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 harps on straightforward, structured, hard-nosed hockey — he was just as blunt.
“We look at scoring as everything, and it’s not everything,” said Berube, still sporting a nasty gash and two black eyes from what was described as a gym accident last week. “You’re not going to consistently win in this league by focusing on just scoring goals. You’ve gotta play the full rink, and right now we’re not doing a good enough job without the puck. That’s it.”
It could also be “it” for the Maple Leafs in a campaign that started with title talk in September if things don’t turn around.
Toronto (24-20-9) sits eight points back of the Eastern Conference wild-card spots and is seventh in the division with 29 games remaining on the schedule.
“That idea of playoff hockey, and that idea of where we are in the standings, and how we need to play to move up and to make a push, obviously we didn’t have it,” said veteran defenceman Morgan Rielly, the longest-serving member of the roster. “This time of year, this situation that we’re in, it’s difficult to understand.”
The Maple Leafs, who haven’t won in regulation since Jan. 10, now head out on a four-game road trip ahead of the NHL’s Olympic break beginning Thursday against the Seattle Kraken before a swing through Western Canada that will see them face the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.
“We just have to have more sense of urgency,” said Toronto captain Auston Matthews, who had a goal and two assists Tuesday. “We have to be a more desperate team than the opponent each and every night, especially where we’re at.”
The Maple Leafs had some bad luck against Buffalo — the first two goals against went in off defenders — but also allowed breakthroughs late in the second period and early in the third for a lead Buffalo wouldn’t surrender.
Toronto’s only point on the homestand came in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Otherwise, the club was outscored a combined 23-11 by the Minnesota Wild (6-3), Vegas Golden Knights (6-3), Colorado Avalanche (4-1) and Sabres (7-4).
“There definitely needs to be more desperation,” said Maple Leafs winger Matthew Knies, who opened the scoring against Buffalo. “We found ourselves in this type of adversity earlier in the year, and we found a way to get out of it.”
Toronto centre John Tavares said his team can’t be impacted by a widening gulf in the standings.
“We didn’t take advantage of the opportunity here at home,” he said. “We are where we are. We just gotta continue to stay with it, stick together, and work through the challenges we’re having right now.”
“There’s a lot of hockey left here,” Tavares added. “Nothing’s been determined.”
The sands in the 2025-26 season’s hourglass, however, are quickly slipping away.
This report by The Canadian Press was first reported Jan. 28, 2026.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
