Maple Leafs encouraged by recent performances

TORONTO – Brad Treliving met the media earlier this week to talk about his hockey team.

Among the many points made by the Maple Leafs general manager was that Toronto — at the time a struggling, injury-ravaged outfit mired in a five-game winless run — had taken points from outings earlier in the schedule where a different outcome might have been more deserving.

“Even in games that we’ve won, we haven’t won the game,” Treliving said Tuesday before a patchwork roster ground out a 3-2 overtime victory against the St. Louis Blues. “Sometimes we’ve scored more goals.”

The veteran executive, for a change, probably felt the club deserved a better fate Thursday night.

Toronto fell in extra time to the Columbus Blue Jackets by the same 3-2 score on another night where the Leafs looked a lot better than they have in quite some time.

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“We played a pretty solid game all around,” said head coach Craig Berube. “Guys worked and competed, did a lot of good things. Overtime, it’s the way it goes.”

The Leafs defended with purpose, were more connected up the ice, and got in on the forecheck. The NHL’s 28th-ranked power play also showed signs of life, but was unable to find the range when one shot would be the eventual difference.

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“We needed to finish better … that’s really the story,” Berube added. “Things are going better, and they’re going in a good direction right now. We just gotta keep working on it and keep building and get some healthy bodies back.”

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Toronto, which owns a pedestrian 9-9-3 record through 21 contests, got one of those Thursday in the form of gritty forward Scott Laughton, who returned from an upper-body injury and played just his third game of the season after also getting hurt in training camp.

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The Leafs, however, were still minus six regulars, including captain and star centre Auston Matthews.

“You want to be battling with the guys — you feel helpless,” Laughton said of having to sit as his teammates struggled. “It sucks we lost, but we keep rolling.”

Toronto centre John Tavares, who tied things in the third period, said some subtle changes in the defensive zone have helped the group gain traction.

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“It’s getting better,” he said. “A couple little tweaks we’ve made that have put us in a good spot to read plays off the rush, protect the most dangerous areas of the ice, and allow us to be more predictable for each other without the puck.

“We still know there’s a lot more to our game.”

Despite the loss, the Leafs battled back from a two-goal deficit in the second to secure a point in the cramped Eastern Conference standings.

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Another positive was the play of Easton Cowan. The rookie winger elevated to the top line alongside Tavares and William Nylander in the third period has already earned enough trust from Berube to be on the ice in the final minute of regulation.

“It’s good I’m getting out there, but I gotta capitalize,” said Cowan, who fed Tavares for the 2-2 goal. “I’m getting chances. I just gotta bury one of them.”

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Toronto netminder Joseph Woll made his third straight start — all three have ended 3-2 in OT — since rejoining the team after taking time away “personal family reasons” in camp.

“A job like this, it’s hard to take results purely as wins and losses,” the cerebral puck-stopper said after finishing with 27 saves. “There’s only so much you can control, and I think it’s all about playing the right way. That’s what comes down to in playoffs — playing to your systems and playing that right way.

“Past few games, from what I’ve seen, is we’re playing our way.”

Laughton, who spent plenty of time dissecting proceedings from the press box, is encouraged by the pushback he’s seen from the Leafs.

“I’ve been in this situation many times,” he said. “You string together a couple (wins) and you get some momentum, and you continue to go. The parity in the league, it’s so tight, so you can’t wear on yourselves. You keep a positive mindset.

“The guys are all saying it — we’re all in this together.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2025.

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