Apr 17, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitch Marner (16) stretches during the warmup before a game against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn ImagesFollowing their second shutout loss of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube isn’t looking for perfection from his top players. He’s looking for pucks on net, and Mitch Marner hasn’t been delivering in that department, going without a registered shot in back-to-back games in Florida.
“I think sometimes your top guys, they look to get too good of a chance sometimes instead of just putting a puck on net. I think there's times where we could put more pucks on net at angles, bad angles, just firing it in there with people going to the net, you never know. It goes off somebody, rebounds or anything like that,” said Berube on Monday.
With the second-round series against the Florida Panthers now tied, Berube voiced his displeasure with Marner’s reluctance to shoot, urging the star winger to simplify his game and adopt a more direct mindset heading into Game 5. Instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity or pass, the bench boss wants shots from all angles, good or bad.
The 28-year-old playmaker has just five shots through four games in the series – all of which came on home ice in Games 1 and 2. Since the series shifted to Sunrise, Marner’s shot total has gone dry, contributing to Toronto’s offensive struggles in Game 4. Despite logging 48:07 of ice time over Games 3 and 4 combined, he's failed to register a single shot on goal.
“Mitch could just be a little bit more direct in that area,” Berube continued. “I think he has the puck a lot, we know that. And he's got to look to put more pucks on net. I get what he's trying to do. Like, he wants to upgrade his chance, upgrade the chance. Probably looking at...he's a passer first. We know that, but we need him to shoot pucks too.”
Marner has long been known as a pass-first forward as a facilitator, and that mindset has served him well. He had a career-best 102-point regular season (27G, 75A), and he’s continued to produce in the playoffs with 12 points (2G, 10A) in 10 games. But it’s the postseason, and the Leafs need anything and everything thrown towards the net because any shot can translate to a goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Toronto managed just 23 shots in Game 4 compared to Florida’s 37. Simply put, the Leafs did not test Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky nearly enough in their 2-0 loss on Sunday. Marner ran the top unit as the club had three power plays and struggled to generate chances, as did the offense in general.
The former No. 4 overall pick does have one goal in the series, a bullet from the point in Game 2 that beat Bobrovsky and stood as the game-winner. In that game, it only took the forward one shot to make something happen. It was an uncharacteristic shot, but it worked. It’s the kind of instinctive play Berube wants to see more of.
“Two games without a shot. He's got to shoot the puck,” Berube said.
Marner recorded eight shots on goal over six games in the first-round series against Ottawa. Notably, he has registered at least one point in every playoff game this year in which the Leafs have scored, going pointless only in the two contests where Toronto was shut out.
The forward has two goals in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs – one in the opening round against Ottawa (Game 1) and one against Florida (Game 2). The most goals he’s scored in any postseason run is three, coming during their last trip to the second round in 2023.
The Leafs scored 13 goals through the first three games against the Panthers before Game 4, but with the series now tied 2-2 and heading back to Toronto, their stars will need to lead the way.
And for Berube, that starts with shooting the puck.
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