The Toronto Maple Leafs failed to get past the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs again.

They also stumbled in their mission to end their Game 7 struggles again.

Toronto has made the postseason each year since 2017, and every time, the Maple Leafs failed to progress beyond the second round, the latest example being their 2025 playoff exit at the hands of the Florida Panthers.

On Sunday, the Maple Leafs bid their season goodbye after a 6-1 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champions at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Expected by many to step up and deliver for the Maple Leafs in the do-or-die contest, Auston Matthews instead laid an egg, as he was not able to find the back of the net on two shots on goal. After netting the game-winning score in Game 6, Matthews fell silent in Game 7, leading to massive ridicule from hockey fans online.

“‘I thought we had too many passengers,' says Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who had two shots on goal tonight,” a fan posted on the social media app X (formerly Twitter). The fan referenced Matthews' postgame comment following Toronto's Sunday loss.

“Auston Matthews in the playoffs,” shared a fan, who also used an edited image of Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid in a Maple Leafs jersey.

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From a different social media user: “Auston Matthews can never again be mentioned in the conversation of “best in the league”. Great players elevate at the most important times. Down 3-0 in game 7 with a period to go, no show”

“Auston Matthews might be the biggest bum of this generation,” another post on X read.

“Jonah Gadjovich has more career goals in the 2nd round than Auston Matthews,” one X user stated.

In 13 games this postseason, Matthews only had three goals, though, he had eight assists for a total of 11 points. But he was mostly nowhere to be found in the Panthers series, during which eh scored just a goal with three assists for four points.

It will be a long offseason for Matthews and the Maple Leafs, whose front office may make big decisions, as Toronto searches anew for answers for their playoff malaise.