Craig Berube Bashes Leafs' Effort, Makes No Excuses for Controversial Loss
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Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Following the Leafs' 3-1 loss to the Capitals Friday night, Craig Berube made no excuses and called out the team for their lack of effort and poor execution.
Although he directly called out Nick Robertson following last night's loss, Leafs bench boss Craig Berube was not pleased with anyone's play, outside that of goaltender Anthony Stolarz.
Berube was very critical of his team after the loss, but also gave the Washington Capitals a lot of credit for showing up to play a full 60 minutes. Even in complementing Washington, though, one couldn't help but notice that his comments sounded very pointed.
"I thought they were just more competitive than us. They played a harder game than us. They won more puck battles than us. They skated better than us. They were just better."
Connor McMichael's goal, which held up as the game-winner, was an unfortunate play that began with Auston Matthews' pass bouncing off an official behind the Leafs' net. The play sparked some controversy over whether pucks that hit the official should lead to a play being blown dead in the offensive zone.
Instead of using it as an excuse, Berube called out his players for reverting back to Sheldon Keefe's East-West play instead of his much more effective North-South style that has been adopted in Toronto.
"You are opening up a big can of worms there with [the controversial goal]. On that play, the bottom line is that instead of just going the other way with the puck, we brought it back. We did that too much tonight, from the first period on. It was the whole game. It eventually bit us and cost us. We didn't play a north game. We didn't play fast. They were the better team. They deserved to win."
The Leafs and Berube won't have much time to dwell on their poor effort on Friday as they are right back at it Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Leafs are expecting the return of Max Pacioretty on Saturday, which gives the team yet another offensive weapon both at 5v5 and on the power play.
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