After a great weekend that saw them put away the Edmonton Oilers in dominant fashion, the Toronto Maple Leafs took a step back with a 6-3 defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Devils.
Unsurprisingly, no one was happy with the performance, least of all Head Coach Sheldon Keefe, who was quick to call out his team for their lack of maturity after the Devils capitalized on seemingly every Maple Leafs error.
Then, in a move no one saw coming, Keefe singled out Captain John Tavares, who he believed 'got carried away tonight', in a surprising move from the Head Coach.
While it's been his worst year as a Toronto Maple Leaf, often being demoted to the third line, Tavares remains a solid leader for this team, but someone had to be called out after the lackluster performance on Monday. With the playoffs approaching, this team should be ramping up to play its best, but if they continue putting on performances like that, it will be another quick playoff run for Toronto, with Keefe trying to inspire this team for consistency.
Source - Blade of Steel:
Keefe Callouts Out His Captain After Disappointing Performance
| POLL | ||
MARS 27 | 105 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Sheldon Keefe Calls out John Tavares after poor game Can this current Maple Leafs team win a Stanley Cup under Sheldon Keefe and John Tavares? | ||
| Yes | 20 | 19 % |
| No | 85 | 81 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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LIVE
APRIL 21, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Erik Cernak | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jake Guentzel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Viktor Arvidsson | - | - | - | |
| Jonathan Aspirot | - | - | - | |
| Zach Benson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Bowen Byram | - | - | - | |
| Declan Carlile | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| Anthony Cirelli | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | - | - | - | |
| Phillip Danault | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | - | - | |
| Josh Doan | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||
| 2025-2026 NHL STANDINGS | ||||||
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Sabres | 82 | 50 | 23 | 9 | 109 | |
| Lightning | 82 | 50 | 26 | 6 | 106 | |
| Canadiens | 82 | 48 | 24 | 10 | 106 | |
| Bruins | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 100 | |
| Senators | 82 | 44 | 27 | 11 | 99 | |
| Red Wings | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 92 | |
| Panthers | 82 | 40 | 38 | 4 | 84 | |
| Maple Leafs | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 78 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Hurricanes | 82 | 53 | 22 | 7 | 113 | |
| Penguins | 82 | 41 | 25 | 16 | 98 | |
| Flyers | 82 | 43 | 27 | 12 | 98 | |
| Capitals | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 95 | |
| Blue Jackets | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 92 | |
| Islanders | 82 | 43 | 34 | 5 | 91 | |
| Devils | 82 | 42 | 37 | 3 | 87 | |
| Rangers | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 77 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Avalanche | 82 | 55 | 16 | 11 | 121 | |
| Stars | 82 | 50 | 20 | 12 | 112 | |
| Wild | 82 | 46 | 24 | 12 | 104 | |
| Mammoth | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 92 | |
| Blues | 82 | 37 | 33 | 12 | 86 | |
| Predators | 82 | 38 | 34 | 10 | 86 | |
| Jets | 82 | 35 | 35 | 12 | 82 | |
| Blackhawks | 82 | 29 | 39 | 14 | 72 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Golden Knights | 82 | 39 | 26 | 17 | 95 | |
| Oilers | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 93 | |
| Ducks | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 92 | |
| Kings | 82 | 35 | 27 | 20 | 90 | |
| Sharks | 82 | 39 | 35 | 8 | 86 | |
| Kraken | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 79 | |
| Flames | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 77 | |
| Canucks | 82 | 25 | 49 | 8 | 58 | |
COMPLETE STANDINGS | ||||||