Maple Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube Speaks His Mind Following OT Loss to Bruins

Heading into Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins, it was clear that a struggling Bruins team was going to bring their A-game against their archrivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. They always do. However, I don't think anyone could have been prepared for the dramatic late-game tie and unfortunate result for the Leafs in overtime.

With under a minute and a half remaining in the third period, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews played heroes for the Leafs, connecting for a late game-tying goal just as Anthony Stolarz was making his way to the bench for the extra attacker. Initially, it seemed as though the play would become a catalyst in an eventual Leafs win, judging by the energy it gave the entire bench.

However, unfortunately, when the overtime period commenced and the Bruins were able to stave off wave after wave of Leafs attacks, the puck wound up in the Leafs' zone on the stick of the guy you'd probably want to have it more than anyone else -- Auston Matthews. What Matthews did with with puck, however, was baffling and not at all what anyone was expecting. He threw a pizza up the ice, right onto the tape of David Pastrnak, who eventually connected with Brad Marchand for the game-winning goal.

After the game, I was certain that Craig Berube was going to cook his team alive, but a surprisingly calm and poised Leafs head coach actually had some positive things to say. Sportsnet's Luke Fox captured Berube's comments after the 4-3 OT loss in Boston

The obvious hope from the Leafs' perspective here is to take some of the positive building blocks and use them to continue to build towards a more steady and consistent game. As Berube alluded to, there were plenty of positives in this game, even when the negatives did show themselves on occasion.

The NHL regular season is a marathon, not a sprint. The Leafs' 4-4-1 record isn't exactly mesmerizing anyone, but it's hardly a disastrous start either. They just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and building towards greatness. Berube seems calm, cool and collected about where his team is at right now. Let's just hope they continue to make positive strides and not revert to some of the bad habits that have gotten them into some trouble in the past.