Craig Berube Addresses Maple Leafs' Performance in 5-1 Loss to Columbus
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
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.
"I liked our start. I thought we had a real good first period. We were down 1-0 on a shorthanded goal. We were controlling the second period, pretty much, and were in the offensive zone. They go down with one opportunity, and they score again.
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.
"We had a lot of shot attempts, and they blocked a lot of shots, but I think we could've been a little bit more direct with our offense. We controlled most of the play, but it was on the outside a little bit too much. We could've shot more pucks. Even on our power play, there were lanes where we should've just shot pucks at the net."
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.
"Their goalie was really good - give him credit - but we had to score a couple of greasy goals tonight, and we didn't get that done."
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.
"There was a play where we had the puck below the goal line. We just have to do a better job there. We can't allow guys to come out. We can't lose those battles that we lost on those plays. Again, we had a lot of opportunities. We have to finish better."
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.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 23 | 1803 ANSWERS Craig Berube Addresses Maple Leafs' Performance in 5-1 Loss to Columbus Did the Leafs get goalie'd last night by the Blue Jackets? | ||
| Yes | 1518 | 84.2 % |
| No | 285 | 15.8 % |
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