Craig Berube Addresses Maple Leafs' Performance in 5-1 Loss to Columbus
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube revealed during his post-game comments that the team left a lot to be desired in 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Maple Leafs went into yesterday's game a pretty banged up unit, already missing John Tavares, who was injured in practice last week, and Max Pacioretty, who was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury on Wednesday morning.
They left the game even more banged up than when they started, losing Matthew Knies towards the end of the second period after an awkward collision sent him spinning off and hitting the ice hard before sliding head-first into the legs of the official.
Still, the injuries weren't on Berube's mind when he spoke to the media after the game to face the music after another tough loss to an inferior team.
To begin, Berube spoke about the start to the game, which he thought was all Leafs, despite going down a goal when Adam Fantilli opened the scoring for the Blue Jackets.
Berube noted the high volume of shot attempts for the Leafs in the game, but also mentioned the fact that the attack from his Maple Leafs wasn't "direct" enough for his liking.
Elvis Merzlikins brought his best to Toronto for this one, making 28 saves on 29 shots against, but Berube wasn't about to let the Leafs off the hook, claiming that they got goalie'd. Instead, he put the onus on his players for not finding a greasy goal or two to get them going.
Lost battles were among the biggest concerns for Berube, who wasn't a fan of how the Leafs fought in their own zone. Finishing on their own attempts was his next biggest concern.
The Leafs did get a goal from Auston Matthews in this one -- though it wasn't the highlight of the night for the 3-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner. Matthews' most covered highlight of the evening was picking up the stick of Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins and attempting to play a part of his shift with it after Merzlikins stole his right out of his hands. Both players were assessed penalties as a result.
The Leafs don't play again until Saturday evening in Ottawa, so they'll have some practice time between now and then to clean up a few things. Hopefully the effort will be better from Berube's club on Saturday night against the Senators.
