Pressure Mounts on Craig Berube to Use One of His Bullets as Losses Pile Up

Another night, another loss for the Maple Leafs. After falling 4-2 to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, that makes it five losses in their last seven games and for a team who was at one point atop the Atlantic; it's a pretty quick drop-off.

Craig Berube understands that the team isn't playing at their best, but maybe he needs to change things up even more than he already has. It was a good start breaking up Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews, but things need to be fixed beyond just splitting them up.

There's a lot of fan backlash regarding the play of both Matthews and Marner over recent weeks, and while the captain may be dealing with an injury; it's getting tiresome to Leafs Nation.

You can't blame the fans for being upset, as what was once a strong and solid team performance (even in the wake of injuries) has now become a much weaker, less aggressive and uncharacteristically invisible when it comes to scoring at a regular rate.

Matthews has four goals since the 4 Nations, he's not looked himself, and if he is dealing with an injury, is trying to grit through it instead of understanding that a healthy captain means way more than a barely impactful one.

Berube has also given his fair share of reasons as to why the Maple Leafs have faltered, but has retired the team's main focus is winning:

But he also relented that the team's mentality ahead of the game Saturday was not where it needed to be:

Though one would argue it's the role of the coach to get things in order, the best Berube can do is to send a message, and one that will actually matter.

That involves sitting both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner; regardless of if it hurts their feelings, because Leafs fans' feelings have hurt for two decades; and they've done little to change things.