HC Craig Berube makes his thoughts on Maple Leafs' defensive woes in 5-1 loss to St. Louis Blues very clear

By Abhilasha Aditi

Modified Oct 25, 2024 09:04 GMT

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube criticized his team's defense following a 5-1 defeat by the St. Louis Blues.

Berube said their breakdowns came from mental mistakes and not being tough enough physically.

"We’re losing coverage and not helping each other in key areas. Some mistakes are mental, and some require us to be tougher…" Berube said during a post-game media conference.

He also showed frustration toward his top line after the Blues’ third goal.

During the post-game media conference, Berube reinforced his point:

"Again, the third goal is just not doing things right. It was lazy hockey on the goal. That is the bottom line."

Jordan Binnington had a strong game, making 41 saves for St. Louis. Dylan Holloway scored twice, while Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich each had two assists. The Blues improved to 5-3-0, winning three of their last four games even without forward Robert Thomas, who is out for at least six weeks with an ankle injury.

The Maple Leafs struggled throughout the game. Joseph Woll made 22 saves in his season debut after returning from a groin injury.

Philip Broberg opened the scoring early, and Dylan Holloway added a power-play goal. Toronto briefly cut the lead with Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s first goal for the team in the second period, but a turnover by Auston Matthews led to Alexandre Texier restoring the two-goal lead. Another mistake, this time by William Nylander, resulted in a 2-on-1, which Jake Neighbours finished to make it 4-1. Holloway later sealed the game with an empty-net goal.

Maple Leafs' offensive struggles in loss to Blue Jackets continue against St. Louis

In their 6-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tmy uesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs struggled offensively. The Blue Jackets dominated from the start. They outshot the Leafs 38-28 and played aggressively. By the end of the second period, the Blue Jackets led 5-1. This left Leafs captain Matthews impressed.

"They were just coming in, flying through," Matthews said per NHL.com.

The Leafs struggled to deal with the Blue Jackets' pace and had a similar problem against the St. Louis Blues.

The Maple Leafs had difficulties in the faceoff circle. They won only 45.7% of their faceoffs against Columbus. That number improved to 68.3% against the Blues but they struggled to score.

Toronto's defense also struggled and has shipped 11 goals in two games.

They will play the Boston Bruins on Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT.