The Toronto Maple Leafs have faced a number of issues throughout their disappointing season, but one of the most consistent problems has been their inability to generate enough offence. The Maple Leafs do not lack star talent; however, a mindset that seems to set them back on a nightly basis.
Craig Berube says why the Maple Leafs struggle offensively
Craig Berube opened the media availability, speaking on how the team performed and why they fell short on Thursday night.
"We got better as the game went along. I thought that, throughout the whole game, we didn’t shoot the puck enough. We had a lot of opportunities to get more pucks to the net. They blocked too many shots, too, in my opinion. Offensively, we could’ve done a lot more than we did."
Craig Berube, later in the postgame availability, explained the reasons for these struggles and why they only finished the game with 19 total shots.
"I think we don’t look to shoot enough, personally. There are a lot of times when it is just a simple shot. It is not our first instinct, in my opinion. Even from the backend, we could move our feet quicker and get them through. I think it is a mindset, more than anything. In the second period, there were opportunities.
"We are right there, and we are trying to pass it. We have to get that out of our system. We have to put more pucks at the net. It’s simple shots. In the third, when Max shoots and hits the post, it’s from a ways out, but those are the types of things. I could go back and look at it, but when we shoot the puck, we recover it probably 80% of the time."
Moving towards the end of the season for the Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs, throughout this season, sit towards the middle of the NHL in goals for with 236. In past seasons, this was a stat they would dominate, often sitting towards the top of the NHL, finishing within the top 10 just one season ago.
The Maple Leafs have continuously struggled to sustain offensive pressure throughout the game; perhaps it could be because of the absence of Mitch Marner, but they simply don't know how to attack their opponents in the offensive zone. When a team starts shooting the puck and finding ways to the net, it breaks open their opponents' structure and can often lead them to begin chasing for the puck, which will open seams and lanes to the net. With the Maple Leafs just passing it around, waiting for the perfect opportunity, they should quickly realize it never comes.
As the season winds down, this issue has become a defining flaw. For a team built around offensive talent, failing to adopt a shoot-first mentality has limited their ability to control games and produce consistent scoring.