Maple Leafs Keep Waiting for a Break, but Is Bad Luck

At some point, Toronto Maple Leafs fans have to wonder when the hockey gods will throw this team a bone. The Maple Leafs get chances. They compete with good teams, and they have stretches where they look close to putting things together, yet the wins simply aren't coming. Another frustrating loss to Minnesota left Toronto looking for answers, and head coach Jim Hiller wasn't interested in making excuses afterward.

Hiller admitted the Maple Leafs have probably played well enough to win three of their last four or five games. Moral victories aren't worth much anymore, though. As he put it, they've done that too many times.

That's probably where a lot of fans are right now, too. How much longer can a team keep saying it played well enough?

Are the Maple Leafs Just Unlucky, or Are They Missing Their Chances?

Watching Toronto lately is maddening because the opportunities are right there. Against Minnesota, the Maple Leafs weren't outmatched. They generated chances, got players into scoring positions, and created moments that could have flipped the game entirely—like when William Nylander slipped past Quinn Hughes, carved out a clean look at the goaltender, and simply couldn't finish.

Call some of that bad luck if you want. A puck clangs off a post, a goalie makes an unexpected save, or a rebound dies in the crease. Those things happen.

When the exact same story keeps repeating itself night after night, though, you start wondering if it's really luck or a team that just isn't finishing the job. Good teams turn half-chances into goals. Toronto has to start burying those, especially against tight-checking clubs that don't give away much room.

Hiller Sees the Mistakes, and So Do the Fans.

Hiller didn't hide from the other side of the coin. He acknowledged that the mistakes and miscues were easy to spot, pointing directly to the neutral-zone breakdown that handed Matt Boldy the winning goal. In Hiller's view, Toronto had plenty of chances to clean up that play long before it became dangerous. That's not bad luck. That's a mistake that needs fixing.

That is what makes this whole stretch so exhausting for Maple Leafs fans. There is just enough good hockey on display to make you believe the group can turn things around, mixed with too many moments where something falls apart at the worst possible second. Eventually, the excuses run out. Maybe a few more pucks start bouncing Toronto's way soon, but this roster can't sit around waiting for charity.

Hiller is right. Playing well enough to compete isn't the same thing as playing well enough to win. Toronto could use a little better luck, sure, but it also needs to start creating its own breaks—because fans have waited long enough for them to show up.