Craig Berube addresses his outburst aimed at Auston Matthews during Maple Leafs' 5-1 loss to Blues

By Ankit Kumar

Modified Oct 26, 2024 15:59 GMT

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube addressed his outburst that was aimed at Auston Matthews after the St. Louis Blues defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena. Berube said, as per Mark Masters on X, that it was about accountability and not personal.

“It’s just accountability to everybody, you know, that’s all it is. It’s nothing personal. It’s just me being a coach and doing what I think is right at the time,” Berube explained.

The Maple Leafs, now 4-4-0, struggled with defensive mistakes. Berube, who was facing his former team for the first time, said his team gave away three goals.

“We made mistakes, bottom line. Defensive mistakes,” Craig Berube said per NHL.com. “Lack of awareness on some of them. For me, we gave them three goals. Shouldn’t happen.”

Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored Toronto’s only goal, cutting the deficit to 2-1. However, the Blues responded with a goal from Alexandre Texier after a turnover by Matthews. The Blues never lost control of the game.

Berube called the third goal "lazy hockey":

“It was lazy hockey on the goal. Thats the bottom line."

Joseph Woll made 22 saves in his season debut after missing the first seven games due to groin tightness.

Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews took responsibility for the loss

Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to bounce back from a tough loss to Columbus. But their struggles continued with this 5-1 home loss to the St. Louis Blues.

Toronto managed only one goal from 41 shots on Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, while St. Louis used Toronto’s mistakes to stay ahead.

Captain Auston Matthews, frustrated with the team’s play, took responsibility, saying:

"Just a bad game all around, up & down our lineup, it starts with me," Matthews said.

Matthews' recent performances have raised concerns. He hasn’t scored in two games and has a -6 rating, which worries fans who expect more from him.

During the game, Blues coach Craig Berube criticized Matthews and his teammates for playing “lazy hockey.” In his response, Matthews said he couldn’t recall Berube’s exact words but he agreed the team needs to improve, especially in defense.

"I think the message was pretty simple to the whole group that we just need to be better," Matthews said per SK. "We need to check better, we can't give up slot chances against a team like (the Blues) that's got good skill."

Auston Matthews became team captain in August, taking over from John Tavares. After scoring 69 goals last season, Matthews has only three in eight games this season. The Maple Leafs will play against the Boston Bruins next.