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Craig Berube comments on exactly what went wrong during disastrous Maple Leafs season opener

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Tom Banks
October 10, 2024  (1:22 PM)
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The Maple Leafs fell in dramatic fashion to Montreal in their season opener, and now Head Coach Craig Berube reveals exactly what happened.

After hiring head coach Craig Berube this off-season and making many more moves, the belief in Toronto was that the Maple Leafs are ready to chase the Stanley Cup, but in game one of the season, they looked like anything but Stanley Cup contenders. On the road against the Montreal Canadiens, the Maple Leafs were shut out despite registering almost 50 shots on the night, and while they only gave up one goal against, it was enough to face the 1-0 defeat.

Surprisingly, Craig Berube wasn't upset about the team's overall performance, saying after the game that he liked plenty of what he saw on the ice in game one, especially shouting out a fantastic performance in net from Anthony Stolarz.

"A lot of good things. A lot of shots. I thought the execution was off, whether it was the shot or the passing. It just wasn't clean enough at times, the power play included. But there was a lot of good stuff. When you almost get 50 shots on net and you don't scoreTheir goalie played well, but I was happy with our effort. The guys battled and worked. Stolarz was really good in net. A lot of good things, but we have to find a way to finish better."

Unfortunately, there were a few things that went against them in this defeat, with Berube calling out their powerplay as a main reason why they went down in dramatic circumstances.

"Not direct enough. A little outside for me, you know? We didn't look to attack right away, get shots, and get pucks to the net to look for some rebounds. We were just moving it around on the outside too much. I don't want to call it 'too cute,' but we have to be more direct. That, too," said Berube on the PP.

Going 0/4 on the powerplay is a recipe for disaster for any team, but given the likes of Morgan Rielly, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner all on the PP, that is simply not good enough, even with goaltender Sam Montembault dominating on the other end. There's still 81 games left for the Maple Leafs to bounce back and let their talent shine, but after one game they've got plenty to work on under Berube if they want to be taken seriously as contenders this season.

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Craig Berube comments on exactly what went wrong during disastrous Maple Leafs season opener

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