Maple Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube Reveals Critical Factor in Loss to the Washington Capitals
With the Toronto Maple Leafs suffering a tough loss against the Washington Capitals, Craig Berube noted the main factor in his team's inability to win.
Although they came out guns blazing against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, against the Capitals it was a totally different story. A rough outing from Matt Murray, a lack of production from some good chances, and boosted by a returning Alexander Ovechkin; Washington once again dominated.
Craig Berube was none too pleased with his team's efforts on Saturday night and held nothing back when it came to explaining why his team fell hard to the Metropolitan monsters:
"Three mistakes in the game that we made and it went in our net. I thought we played a pretty hard game. A lot of opportunities we didn't finish."
Three Strikes You Lose According To Craig Berube
The Maple Leafs head coach wasn't wrong in his observations of Toronto's lack of production. Although they outshot, outhit, and won more faceoffs; the fact is Washington was able to easily steal the puck on several occasions as the Leafs acted complacent.
One mistake Berube observed was William Nylander leaving his own zone in hopes for a break out, leaving them stranded as Nic Dowd ended up scoring.
Not only that, but Toronto offered little resistance to Washington's relentless offense. Often looking tired at times, they aren't getting the production from guys like Matthew Knies, and even the red-hot John Tavares was aware of how poor the team played:
«Looking at it from a little bit of a bigger picture, I think we got a little bit more. We got to be more consistent Our execution can be a little bit better, and our pace can just be a little bit better.»
Making his second start of the season, Matt Murray also wasn't at his best, though it's hard when your team doesn't play good defense. Murray admitted he's still getting used to the NHL level again after being gone for so long, yet it was still a rough go for the veteran:
«I definitely had a long time off. There's maybe just like one or two times a game I feel like I'm a little late picking up pucks through traffic. That type of thing.»
Head coach Craig Berube tried his best to praise his goaltender but quietly relented that it wasn't his best showing:
«Well, I'm sure he wants a couple back. But he hasn't played a ton of hockey. He battled. He fought. That's about it.»
Toronto is going to need to fight back pretty quickly as they will get their last two day break until the middle of January. Hopefully for Craig Berube and the Leafs, the time off will bring enough reflection to come out strong in their next game.
At this point, the team can't afford any more mistakes.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 29 | 1354 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube Reveals Critical Factor in Loss to the Washington Capitals Do you think Craig Berube needs to make a drastic lineup change to help Toronto's defense? | ||
| Yes | 829 | 61.2 % |
| No | 525 | 38.8 % |
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