The Toronto Maple Leafs are going through it right now, there’s no other way to put it. They’re scoring goals, but they’re coming up short in almost every other area of the game which is making the goal-scoring a moot point. They aren’t getting number one performances from their number one goaltender, and they can’t execute a clean breakout pass, resulting in being hemmed in their own zone on every other shift.

It’s been an issue for the past half-decade, and it hasn’t gone anywhere in 2025-26. By it, I’m referring to the ability to play a full 60 minutes. The Leafs were up 2-0 on the Los Angeles Kings heading into the second period, and twice before the game was over they blew a lead, first at 2-0 and then at 3-2. The Kings ended up winning the game in overtime, and Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube pointed to his team’s inability to play a full 60 minutes as the primary reason for the loss.

“I liked our first period, I thought we did some real good things,” Berube told media postgame. “Defended well, you know, our sticks were really good, we did a lot of good things. And then I thought they three-quarter iced us in the second. The reason that is, you know, when you get pucks back in our zone, we got to get out of it. We didn’t do a good job of it. And then we got the lead in the third and I thought we sat back a little too much.”

One of the recurring words in Berube’s recent press conferences has been confidence. The team appears to be playing like they’re unsure of the next play to make, waiting for the play to come to them instead of executing one themselves. That was no different after their fourth loss in a row.

“It’s confidence for me, a little bit,” Berube said. “The plays are there. We’re just not making them and just not seeing them enough right now. We just got to pick up our pace. We got to be more confident in those plays. To me, that’s the difference in the game.”

When asked how the team can rediscover their confidence, Berube said that it ultimately comes down to hard work and trusting the process.

“I think confidence comes from hard work and doing the right things. We’ll look at video and they’ll see the plays and work on it in practice.”

The Maple Leafs are back in action on Saturday night when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks.

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