The Toronto Maple Leafs authored an exhilarating comeback to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on home ice on Monday night — but it surely wasn’t enough to satisfy their head coach.
The Leafs trailed 3-0 at the tip of the second period and looked listless for long stretches, but scored 4 unanswered goals to steal two points away from the surging Pens. Still, that did not fully erase one among the worst 40 minute stretches of hockey for the club in recent memory.
“It’s got to be higher,” Berube said in his postgame press conference at Scotiabank Arena, per NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger. “That’s the underside line.”
And the bench boss wasn’t the just one who felt that way, despite the victory.
“Forward William Nylander called it ‘terrible’ and ‘unacceptable.’ Captain Auston Matthews said the execution ‘just wasn’t ok.’ Stolarz said it ‘was just less than our standard,’” wrote Zeisberger.
The Leafs trailed 2-0 after the primary period and were outshot 8-5 within the opening frame. Things really fell apart within the second period; Toronto was outshot 17-3 and absolutely dominated by Pittsburgh from start to complete.
“Yeah, I believe it was, when it comes to holding onto the puck and executing and making plays and fidgeting with speed,” defenseman Morgan Rielly said when asked if the second frame was one among the worst periods the team had played in recent memory. “There was none of that.”
Based on how things were going, it was a miracle that the Leafs were in a position to overcome and get the 2 points. Nevertheless it was a resilient team that got here out within the third period, one that did not resemble the one from the primary 40 minutes in any respect.
Craig Berube not joyful despite victory
It’s clear that, regardless that Toronto won, there continues to be a ton of labor to be done to get this team back to the extent that helped it win the Atlantic Division in 2024-25.
The squad is definitely missing Mitch Marner, although there appears to be a major lack of discover within the early going. Anthony Stolarz hasn’t been as potent between the pipes, the defense has been leaky, and the depth scoring, for probably the most part, has dried up.
“I actually have no clue,” Berube said when asked why his team wasn’t in a position to put together a full 60-minute effort on Monday. “I actually have no answer for that right away.”
Now 7-5-1 and third place within the Atlantic, the Leafs could definitely be in a much worse spot the best way they’re playing. Because it stands, Toronto has won two games in a row and 4 in five tries dating back to October 25.
The general picture may not be very encouraging, but the outcomes are still positive, and banking early-season points at this juncture of the campaign is critical.
The Leafs will look to make it back-to-back-to-back victories when the Utah Mammoth visit Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night.