Craig Berube Identifies Maple Leafs' Fatal Flaw in Loss to New York Rangers

The Leafs fired 35 shots at Igor Shesterkin, but only managed to beat him once. Those shots included 9 by Auston Matthews as well as a pair of breakaways or partial breakaways from William Nylander. Unfortunately, only Matthews was able to beat the Rangers' netminder as he proved why he is going to be the highest paid goaltender in the league.

Following the game, Berube revealed liked the Leafs' effort but felt they could have done a better effort of taking Shesterkin's eyes away from him by getting more traffic in front.

The Leafs dominated the third period, firing 18 shots at the Rangers' net, but were unable to find the equalizer as the Rangers did a very good job in front of Shesterkin, tying up sticks and clearing rebounds after he made the initial saves. Even with Anthony Stolarz on the bench, the Leafs were unable to capitalize before giving up two empty net goals in the final minute to fall 4-1.

The loss to the Rangers was the biggest test for the Leafs so far this season, and although they lost, it was a very complete effort from the club. The Leafs will look to bounce back Monday when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first game of a back-to-back.