Maple Leafs Coach Craig Berube Shares Honest Opinion on His Team's Effort in Carolina
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Maple Leafs bench boss Craig Berube has offered up an honest assessment of his team's play in Carolina, pinpointing what could have been done better in the loss.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were red hot in the month of January heading into Thursday's clash with the Hurricanes in Raleigh, North Carolina.
After defeating the New York Islanders on New Year's Eve, the Leafs tacked on 4 more wins in January, carrying a 5-game winning streak into Carolina. Unfortunately, they would not make it 6, as the Hurricanes put up 6 goals on the Buds, en route to a 6-3 win.
Following the loss, Leafs head coach Craig Berube spoke with the media and revealed some of the gripes he had with the way his team played.
"We had breakdowns in our own zone. I thought that we left the slot open too much tonight, didn't cover, and then I thought we just spent too much time in our own zone, in general... especially in the second [period]. We didn't kill more plays, come up with more pucks... we didn't. Kind of got away from us."
It wasn't all bad in Berube's eyes, as he did give the Leafs' power play a bit of a rub in the post-game media session, stating that he has liked them in general -- minus the shorthanded goal they gave up last night.
"We could have defended it, to be honest with you... the guys on the back end, we just gotta take away the pass. Yeah, there's always going to be concerns with 5 forwards on the power play at times... but, I liked the power play in general. They got us a goal, had some good looks on the next one. So, they did some real good things, but we just gotta clean up the mistakes. Just too loose."
The Leafs did not play very well in front of Joseph Woll, who received the nod in last night's tilt with the Hurricanes. In the end, the 26-year-old goaltender surrendered 5 goals in the 6-3 loss, which snapped his own individual winning streak as well.
Berube supported his goaltender following the loss, taking no issue with Woll allowing the puck to cross the goal line 5 times in the defeat. He took on a very "you win some, you lose some" point of view in Woll's case, giving his starter the benefit of the doubt after playing so well with an increased workload.
The Leafs will now head back to Toronto to prepare for a Saturday night matchup against the Vancouver Canucks, who have had a bit of a troubling season so far.
The Leafs will host an Indigenous Heritage Game versus the Canucks, wearing jerseys with a unique new logo, designed by Indigenous artist Jennifer Taback.
It should be a special game for Craig Berube, who became the first ever Indigenous coach in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup in 2019 with St. Louis.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 10 | 1738 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Coach Craig Berube Shares Honest Opinion on His Team's Effort in Carolina Do you like the 5-forward power play that the Leafs keep going back to? | ||
| Yes | 428 | 24.6 % |
| No | 1310 | 75.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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