The Maple Leafs went 0-4-1 on their five-game homestand, falling eight points out of a playoff spot. There aren't a lot of answers moving forward.
The Toronto Maple Leafs fell 7-4 to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, falling to eight points out of a playoff spot, while falling to eight points out of a playoff spot.
If times were bad enough in Toronto, they are certainly reaching a tipping point, having just completed their 53rd out of 82 games this season.
After the game, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube was asked about what he learned about his club following a 0-4-1 homestand, and it's clear he's out of answers.
Well, that we got to keep the puck out of our net is what I learned, and we didn't do that here at home other than the Detroit game. It's the only game we did. But 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 homestand to win games, but we didn't keep the puck out of our net. Until you want to keep the puck out of your net, and that's a couple things. Managing the game, puck play, don't give odd man rushes up, defend harder than we are. More desperation in defending, and goalies stop the puck. That's it. We can score goals. We score goals. But until we want to keep the puck out of our net, this is what we're going to get. It's no more than that. I don't want to talk about it anymore. That's all it is. I don't need to learn anything about our team. I know our team, and they're capable of doing it. So, you know, we can do it.
On a night when the Leafs were honoring the 50th anniversary of Darryl Sittler's 10-point game, the Sabres put up seven on Toronto. There was no jam or urgency in the club's game and with 29 games remaining in the regular season, reality may finally be starting to set into the group.
Below is the rest of Berube's comments after the game:
Craig, what went wrong with your group?
I thought, well, we had a couple bad breaks go off our guys, but end of the first period, we turn a puck over, they score. And then the end of the second period, you know, it's not even a shot from the point, but we don't have our guys in front of the net and they score. That's the difference in the game for me. And we come out in the third and we get scored on on the first shift. I mean, it's just two or three mistakes and they're in our net.
How do you put an end to those two or three mistakes every game?
Well, keep trying to work on things and stop making them, first of all. I think a couple of them, just guys, just do what you're supposed to do, do your job. But, you know, we're not getting any breaks right now, so we've got to earn them. You know, that's for sure. But, you know, all we can do is push forward and focus on the next game. We've got to clean things up. We look at it and try to clean it up and then go from there.
You mentioned the goalies. Did you wish you had Dennis Hildeby at any point during this homestand?
These are our guys. Stolarz is back, ready to go. So this is decisions that you've got to make. They're our goalies.
You mentioned not getting the breaks.How do you keep that from letting the confidence kind of fall down to a low?
I said it before, confidence *exasperated gasp* You've got to go and work and compete. Your confidence will be fine. I mean, I get it, but, you know, we're in the NHL, and you're getting paid to play hockey. You've got to go and do the job. That's your job. Do your job.
Is it more puzzling or concerning to you that you're talking about these mistakes in game 53 rather than early on?
Yeah, it is coming off the road trip and how good we've been playing. Yeah, it's puzzling for sure.
What's the identity of the team right now?
We look at scoring as everything, and it's not everything. You know, you can't, you're not going to consistently win in this league by, focusing on just scoring goals. You've got to play the full rink. And right now we're not doing a good enough job without the puck. That's it.
You talk about earning chances. Does that include obviously getting more power plays?
Well, yeah. We didn't control the offensive zone enough to get some power plays tonight. We did at times, but if you want to get power plays, you've got to skate and you've got to attack and you've got to put people in vulnerable positions to take penalties.