Toronto Maple Leafs veteran hits his teammates with a reality check

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost yet another game on Thursday night, this time to a Columbus Blue Jackets team that the Leafs could have beaten.

In the end, it was an overtime loss, with Max Domi causing the game-winning goal with a terrible pass in the middle of the ice.

Now, the Leafs have lost six of their last seven, and things have never felt more hopeless, especially with the team in seventh place in the Atlantic Division.

Luckily, there is a silver lining here. The team is dealing with a plethora of injuries, and when the team is fully healthy, it usually performs at a high level.

After Thursday night's loss, Maple Leafs forward Scott Laughton spoke to the media, where he offered some wisdom about the team's predicament.

Effectively, he believes the team just needs to keep grinding. If they let themselves get down on themselves, then this is just going to get worse.

While this might be an idealistic way of looking at things, you can't blame the forward for wanting to uplift his teammates and show them that they can still have a big season.

Ultimately, the Maple Leafs are in a pretty bad spot right now, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. For instance, they play the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, and with the Habs struggling, the Leafs have an opportunity to run up the score.

They are only a few points out of a playoff spot. All is not lost. They just need to string some wins together and really get themselves going again.