Toronto Maple Leafs lose while their players bicker on the bench

The Toronto Maple Leafs are now down 3-1 in their series with the Boston Bruins. After losing game four, their backs are now against the wall. Boston has three chances to close this series out. 

During game four, we saw a lot of problems for Toronto. For one, it looked like multiple players were having issues on the bench. There was some obvious bickering going on. 

They also just didn’t play well on the ice at all. The effort of Toronto didn’t even come close to the effort of Boston. This team has some serious problems and it is unclear how to fix it. 

When you watch Boston and the way they play, you can see the clear difference between them and Toronto. It just seems like the stars in the Bruins have a winning mindset over an individual mindset. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins on Saturday night

Seeing Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews getting at each other on the bench is not a good sign. It got even worse when we saw William Nylander tell them that they needed to stop crying. It is embarrassing on their end. 

The fact that William Nylander had a mysterious injury for the first three games of the series after playing all 82 games makes this even cringier. Auston Matthews was also sick and missed the third period as a result. It just doesn't feel like a group that is "all in".

Does this mean that changes are going to come if the Leafs go down quietly in game five? You’d think there is a chance based on what we saw in game four. 

Now, the Boston Bruins have a 3-1 series lead and can eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs next time out. You can expect gamers like Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Charlie McAvoy to bring their A-game to the next one. 

Jeremy Swayman started all three wins for the Bruins against the Leafs and, likely, he doesn’t come out for Linus Ullmark until he loses. If the Leafs don’t finally find a way to beat him, they are toast.