Maple Leafs’ Defensive Issues Sink Winless Homestand
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By Nemanja Petković
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Summary:
- The Maple Leafs finished their five-game homestand without a win.
- The team fell further out of playoff position after a 7–4 loss to the Sabres.
- Craig Berube openly criticized the team’s defense and goaltending, saying scoring alone won’t win games.
The Toronto Maple Leafs finished a rough five-game homestand in the worst way they could, losing 7–4 to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. Once the dust settled, Toronto walked away from the stretch without a single win, staring at a growing hole in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Berube: “We Gotta Keep the Puck Out of Our Net”
The loss leaves the Leafs eight points out of a playoff spot as they are preparing to go west to tackle a four-game road trip ahead of the February Olympic break.
After the game, head coach Craig Berube made sure not to sugarcoat anything when asked what he learned about his team during the winless homestand.
We gotta keep the puck out of our net, is what I learned, and we didn’t do that here at home. Until we decide to do things right and keep the puck out of our net, and that’s the goalies included, this is what you’re going to get. We scored enough goals on this home stand to win games, but we didn’t keep the puck out of our net.
The numbers back his claims, as Toronto gave up 25 goals over those five games, including six to Minnesota, six to Vegas, and seven to Buffalo. For a hockey team built around offense, the defensive breakdowns have been impossible to ignore.
A Mix of Issues
Berube pointed to a mix of issues that keep showing up night after night.
[It’s] a couple things, managing the game, puck play, don’t give odd-man rushes up, defend, harder than we are, more desperation defending and goalies stop the puck. That’s it. We can score goals, we’ve scored goals, but until we want to keep the puck out of our net, this is what we’re going to get.
The 60-year-old made it clear he feels the message has already been delivered.
There’s no more than that, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I don’t need to learn anything more about our team, I know about our team, and they’re capable of doing it.
Right now, the Leafs have allowed more goals than any team in the Eastern Conference, and are tied for the third-worst mark in the league overall. Injuries haven’t helped the heam, with Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz both missing time, and neither having an easy outing during the homestand.
Still, Berube isn’t looking elsewhere for answers in net. When asked about Denis Hildeby, he shut that down quickly. “These are our guys” he said.
A closed-door meeting earlier in the week was meant to reset the group, but the results haven’t followed yet. Berube summed up the core issue plainly.
I think our identity is we look at scoring as everything, and it’s not everything. You gotta play the full rink.
For now, the fix isn’t complicated, at least in theory. “You gotta go and work and compete”, Berube said.
