William Nylander faces backlash after rude gesture from the press box.

Things are quickly turning ugly for the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4th straight loss on Sunday, this time to the National Hockey League's best in the Colorado Avalanche, and unfortunately for the Leafs their top stars are not helping the situation.

As fans reading this will already know the Maple Leafs have been without Nylander in the lineup since the 15th of January when he played just 2 minutes and 17 seconds against the Vegas Golden Knights. On Sunday, Nylander was once again in the press box as his team faced off against the Avalanche but, despite the fact that he was not playing, Nylander still managed to make headlines for all the wrong reasons.

The Leafs were being dominated by the Avalanche early in the third period when the camera panned over to the Maple Leafs press box to showcase just how many injuries the Maple Leafs are currently dealing with. Most notable in the press box were defenseman Chris Tanev, who was in the center of the frame, and William Nylander who was to Tanev's left but kept ducking behind a divider wall to get out of view of the camera.

I suspect that Nylander felt the camera stayed on the Leafs press box a little too long, because he quickly responded with a rude gesture by flipping off the camera man with his middle finger. There was no mistaking the intent here, with Nylander seemingly relishing in the moment like a defiant kid breaking the rules in front of his parents.

Here is a look at the replay:

Some fans have laughed it off but others clearly did not like what they saw from the Maple Leafs forward on Sunday, especially not when the season appears to be slipping away from the Maple Leafs.

Let me know your thoughts on this one in the comments.