You hear that? That’s the sound of a Toronto Maple Leafs team screaming to the heavens (or at Keith Pelley and Brad Treliving, in this case) that this team does not have a playoff run in them, no matter how badly upper management might want to will it into existence.

It’s a shame that I had to use that introduction after what was actually a decently-played game by the Leafs, at least when you line it up next to whatever you want to call the three games out of the break. Toronto actually outshot its opponent, by a margin of 31-25 in this game, and there were no bursts of horrid play that resulted in multiple goals-against. Problem is, when you’re in the position the Leafs are and find yourselves seven points out of a playoff spot by the trade deadline, it’s hard to take positives out of the well-played losses.

If you ask the players in that dressing room, they likely have no choice but to take the point they got and find a way to use it as a building block. Dakota Joshua scored his first goal since coming back from injury, the Leafs countered a late go-ahead goal by Philadelphia by capitalizing on the power play shortly after, and Anthony Stolarz played well overall. But, again, as important as those things are for morale purposes, the reality is that this loss will further cloud the possibility of making the playoffs. It’s foreign territory for this group, but it’s the way things are at this point.

The Maple Leafs will visit the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night before making their way to Manhattan for a date with the Rangers. Both of these teams are battling their own demons, but at this point, how they play in these next two games probably won’t be enough to sway their deadline plans.

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