Craig Berube isn\u2019t interested in learning anything more about his hockey team.<\/p>\n
The former NHL enforcer believes the pieces are there for the Maple Leafs to make a playoff push and salvage their season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A disastrous homestand means that hill has become an even tougher climb.<\/p>\n
Long a doormat in the Atlantic Division, the surging Buffalo Sabres resigned Toronto to a third straight regulation loss at Scotiabank Arena with a 7-4 victory Tuesday that tied a bow on a forgettable Maple Leafs\u2019 stretch \u2014 one potentially set to define what is quickly turning into a lost campaign \u2014 where they went an ugly 0-4-1 in their backyard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe gotta keep the puck out of our net, is what I learned,\u201d Berube said of the last five games in a tense press conference after his players were booed off the ice. \u201cUntil we decide to do things right and keep the puck out of our net, and that\u2019s the goalies included, this is what you\u2019re gonna get.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about the identity of this Toronto iteration \u2014 the Stanley Cup-winning bench boss with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 harps on straightforward, structured, hard-nosed hockey \u2014 he was just as blunt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look at scoring as everything, and it\u2019s not everything,\u201d said Berube, still sporting a nasty gash and two black eyes from what was described as a gym accident last week. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to consistently win in this league by focusing on just scoring goals. You\u2019ve gotta play the full rink, and right now we\u2019re not doing a good enough job without the puck. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It could also be \u201cit\u201d for the Maple Leafs in a campaign that started with title talk in September if things don\u2019t turn around.<\/p>\n
Toronto (24-20-9) sits eight points back of the Eastern Conference wild-card spots and is seventh in the division with 29 games remaining on the schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat idea of playoff hockey, and that idea of where we are in the standings, and how we need to play to move up and to make a push, obviously we didn\u2019t have it,\u201d said veteran defenceman Morgan Rielly, the longest-serving member of the roster. \u201cThis time of year, this situation that we\u2019re in, it\u2019s difficult to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Maple Leafs, who haven\u2019t won in regulation since Jan. 10, now head out on a four-game road trip ahead of the NHL\u2019s Olympic break beginning Thursday against the Seattle Kraken before a swing through Western Canada that will see them face the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to have more sense of urgency,\u201d said Toronto captain Auston Matthews, who had a goal and two assists Tuesday. \u201cWe have to be a more desperate team than the opponent each and every night, especially where we\u2019re at.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Maple Leafs had some bad luck against Buffalo \u2014 the first two goals against went in off defenders \u2014 but also allowed breakthroughs late in the second period and early in the third for a lead Buffalo wouldn\u2019t surrender.<\/p>\n
Toronto\u2019s only point on the homestand came in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Otherwise, the club was outscored a combined 23-11 by the Minnesota Wild (6-3), Vegas Golden Knights (6-3), Colorado Avalanche (4-1) and Sabres (7-4).<\/p>\n
\u201cThere definitely needs to be more desperation,\u201d said Maple Leafs winger Matthew Knies, who opened the scoring against Buffalo. \u201cWe found ourselves in this type of adversity earlier in the year, and we found a way to get out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto centre John Tavares said his team can\u2019t be impacted by a widening gulf in the standings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t take advantage of the opportunity here at home,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are where we are. We just gotta continue to stay with it, stick together, and work through the challenges we\u2019re having right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of hockey left here,\u201d Tavares added. \u201cNothing\u2019s been determined.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sands in the 2025-26 season\u2019s hourglass, however, are quickly slipping away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Craig Berube isn\u2019t interested in learning anything more about his hockey team. The former NHL enforcer believes the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-443053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}