Toronto Maple Leafs Drop Three Straight: Is It Time to Panic?

The Toronto Maple Leafs were coming into TD Garden in Boston with a few goals in mind. First, they want to avenge their loss last season in Game 7 of their first-round Stanley Cup Finals matchup. Secondly, coming off two bad losses, Toronto needed to build back their momentum and get back to their winning ways.

But as always, history tends to repeat itself. Toronto ended up losing another game to the Boston Bruins in overtime, falling 4-3 on Saturday night after a brutal giveaway by captain Auston Matthews led to the winning goal from Brad Marchand:

It was another disappointing end to a game between the two, and while Toronto did play better than it had in the previous two, it's still an L on the scoresheet and it's a hat-trick of losses for the Maple Leafs. It doesn't get any easier as they head into a tough schedule with Winnipeg, Seattle, St. Louis, and Minnesota headed right for them on their road trip. We did see Mitch Marner get himself three assists and Auston Matthews had a goal but that giveaway completely negates his game-tying effort. It's the second such time Matthews has made a costly defensive mistake this week and it's frustrating to see the normally staunch Matthews be so complacent.

The question now remains: Is it time to start panicking about the Toronto Maple Leafs?

I think it's a bit of a worrying sight to see Toronto fall apart so suddenly after a good start to the season. They looked more cohesive and motivated against the Bruins but they still made some egregious defensive errors and it cost them dearly. Anthony Stolarz can only do so much, and the fact that he's been so spectacular means Toronto could be in a much worse spot if it weren't for him.

There's no definitive reason why the Toronto Maple Leafs have started sliding. It's not like they aren't buying into Craig Berube's game plan, and it seems like what was so smooth and fluid at the beginning of the year is starting to feel a bit disjointed. The locker room isn't at odds with each other, https://www.hockeypatrol.com/nhl-team/toronto-maple-leafs/craig-berube-reveals-the-current-mood-in-the-maple-leafs-locker-room-after-rough-week, but feelings don't win you games so it's perplexing to see the downfall.

There's reason to worry but a full-blown panic isn't it. Maple Leafs fans have to wait and see how the next game against Winnipeg goes; if they manage to pull out a win it's a huge morale boost. If they lose again, there should be some alarm bells going off and more focus on figuring out what the heck is going on.