What happened? I can’t figure this team out. Well, nobody seems to. After what looked like a breakthrough — their most complete game of the season, consecutive wins, signs of identity and compete level — the Leafs produced this instead: a 6–3 defeat to the Blue Jackets, in a game that wasn’t even as close as the final score suggests.
There’s no point in re-hashing every play. You know the script. Defensive breakdowns. Mental lapses. Spotty goaltending. All combined into a performance that looked equal parts unprepared and unravelled.
Coach Craig Berube tried to be glass-half-full about the offence afterwards, sure. But it’s a moot point when you concede six goals, including three by the Blue Jackets in an 8½-minute stretch in the second period that blew the game open.
Then there’s the goaltending. The Cayden Primeau experiment has had its moments — his first two starts were manageable, buoyed by goal support. But this one? As bad as it gets. When your backstop can’t stem the tide, everything else falls in line behind the breakdown. The urgency of a return to Joseph Woll just got louder.
John Tavares reached a major milestone with his 500th career goal — a moment that should’ve meant more, but on a night like this, it felt hollow amid the defensive chaos.
And to add to the worry, William Nylander sat out yet again. With Mitch Marner gone, Nylander’s absence carries more weight than ever. The Leafs don’t have enough offensive depth to erase what they lose without him — and it showed.
What now?
They’ve got to bounce back. Soon. With or without Nylander. The season’s already in motion and there’s no “wait” button to press. The Leafs have found another gear in November before — they know how to flip the switch. The question isn’t if, but when. And the longer they wait, the more this loss will linger.
Because this wasn’t just another off night — it was a step backward. The identity they’d been building suddenly vanished, and all the bad habits they’d seemed to bury came rushing back. If this team truly wants to be taken seriously, consistency has to stop being optional.