It's one thing to lose a revenge game for your coach. It's another to stray from all the defensive principles he's been preaching in a problematic 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
www.sportsnet.ca
Pick your issue from the Berube Bowl:
• So stingy and structured through the season's first half-dozen games, over the past two Toronto has been dishing out odd-man rushes like your neighbour will be dishing out mini Snickers next week.
"We gotta fix that. That's a problem right now," Berube said, bluntly. Which is how he says most things. "We made mistakes, bottom line. Defensive mistakes."
• The Maple Leafs lost the net-front battles at both ends of the rink, a broken commandment in the Bible of Berube.
"Two games now, we're just not good enough. Pretty simple. Just light on pucks. They won battles. They won the net-front tonight. It's pretty simple," captain Auston Matthews said.
"Just a bad game all around, up and down the lineup. Starts with me."
• Following an 0-for-4 night, the talent-rich power play has tumbled to 11.1 per cent (26th league-wide), it's ineffectiveness was catalyst for the boo birds.
"They're not really seeing it right now," Berube says of a disconnected top unit that has spent more time than usual working on 5-on-4 situations in practice but has yet to get rolling.
"We just got to start attacking the net, not trying to look for the perfect play," William Nylander said.
• Over the past six periods, Matthews' top line is a shocking minus-6. And Berube let them hear about it in the wake of some casual D-zone coverage on Alex Texier's second-period strike from the slot.
"It was lazy hockey on the goal," Berube said. "That's the bottom line."
• On offence, the Leafs struggled to find the balance between shooting the puck quickly, the way their coach prefers, but not smack into the shinpads of their defenders.
Berube pointed to St. Louis's 24 blocked shots and demanded his Leafs create more movement to create cleaner shot lanes.
• Then there was straight-line defenceman Jake McCabe attempting a between-the-legs pass near Joseph Woll's crease.
"Our whole team is getting a little cute. We just gotta play direct," Berube said. "We don't need that kinda stuff."
