TORONTO — Craig Berube read his players the riot act after a delayed response to a dirty hit that ultimately ended their captain’s season.
The Maple Leafs are playing out the string in a campaign that started with Stanley Cup talk. The team is now at least making a point of sticking up for each other — even if it’s too little, too late in the standings.
Morgan Rielly dropped the gloves to add to a handful of career NHL fights in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders after goaltender Joseph Woll was bumped. The bout followed a pair of hard-fought road games on the heels of star centre Auston Matthews being felled by a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas last week.
The four other Toronto skaters on the ice Thursday didn’t act in the immediate aftermath of that headline-grabbing altercation, but came out hard for the third period, including the first professional fight from rookie winger Easton Cowan, in what ended as a 6-4 comeback victory.
Toronto then lost to the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in a Saturday shootout that saw blueliner Oliver Ekman-Larsson get angry and defend Woll before a stick-together 4-2 victory over the Wild in Minnesota on a back-to-back.
The Maple Leafs, however, were torched by media, fans and even players from other teams, namely Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk on his podcast with brother Matthew of the Florida Panthers, in the interim for not doing anything with Matthews lying on the ice in agony.
Rielly took responsibility for not immediately stepping up against Gudas, who was suspended five games for a hit that resulted in a torn MCL in Matthews’ left knee.
“It’s everybody,” said Berube, the Maple Leafs head coach. “They all should have been in there right away. But I think that they’ve obviously learned from it, and it’s a difference now.”
The veteran defenceman didn’t blink Tuesday following a sequence that was far less severe, going toe-to-toe with Islanders centre Kyle MacLean in the second period.
“Something that we’ve talked about in the past,” said Rielly, who was assessed an extra two-minute penalty for cross-checking. “And we’ve talked about recently.”
Berube has seen a different mentality from the club since Matthews went down.
“It’s a great job by him getting in there and sticking up for Joseph,” he added of Rielly. “That message has got across.”
Berube said following the morning skate that the injury and subsequent lack of response was a “wake-up call” for his group.
But why did it take losing Toronto’s former 69-goal man to get those juices flowing?
“It’s a good question,” Woll said. “The past few days, past few games have been really great seeing our team do that. From the time I’ve been here, I feel like we’ve had guys that stand up for our teammates, and that hasn’t been an issue.
“Everyone really cares a lot about each other in this room.”
Maple Leafs forward Steven Lorentz, who scored his team’s only goal Tuesday, commended Rielly’s efforts Tuesday.
“Having each other’s back has been a big part of the talks pre-game,” he said. “Making sure we’re connected out there as a group.”
He added the players are also aware of what’s been said since Matthews saw his season end.
“We’d be lying if we said we don’t hear it,” Lorentz explained. “Sometimes it takes a talk from the coach, a little bit of yelling for the guys to wake up and figure it out. We had a lot of sit-down talks, and we looked in the mirror a little bit to get to this spot that we’ve played these past few games.
“It hasn’t been consistent enough, and it’s been nice to see these past few games. It’s not about going out there and fighting, but if a guy takes a run at a guy on your team, it’s about having the liberty to stick up.”
BABY DUTY
Ekman-Larsson returned to the lineup after missing Sunday’s game in Minnesota and Tuesday’s morning skate to be wife, Maja, who delivered their second child — and second boy — on Monday.
“Not a lot of sleep, but it’s been great,” said Ekman-Larsson, who played a game-high 25:06 against New York. “Wifey had been battling, and some tough nights, but she’s been unbelievable.”
TAKING HIS CHANCE
Maple Leafs winger Benoit-Oliver Groulx created the turnover that led to Lorentz’s breakthrough in the second. The 26-year-old has four points, including three goals, in five games since being called up from the American Hockey League.
“Done a lot of good things,” Berube said. “Not just the points and the goals, it’s the other side of the game … he’s very smart and in position, does a good job. He’s played extremely well.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2026.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
