Craig Berube is the biggest reason the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Rangers
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost a close one to the Rangers
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 4-1 to the Rangers on Saturday Night, but it was really a 2-1 loss with 2 x empty net goals to make the score look bad.
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost a one-goal game in which they were the better team, and the the difference in this one was coaching.
The Leafs were simply unable to overcome a string of bad decisions by the new coach and fall to 3-2 on the year.
In the NHL, one-goal games are practically a coin-flip and while it isn't like Berube embarassed himself or anything, there were several things which, if changed, likely would have given the Leafs a better result.
Craig Berube is the biggest reason the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Rangers
I've got several issues with the coach in this game, so I'll just list them point form:
- Max Domi is not a centre. I realize the Leafs are thin at centre, but playing Domi is centre is always a mistake. The Leafs cannot turn their back on the chemistry between Matthews and Domi forever, but it's been 5 games and the Leafs forwards do not look anywhere as dangerous as they should. Berube should start here.
- If you do play Domi at centre, at least don't play him more than John Tavares. (all stats naturalstattrick.com).
- Taveres and Robertson had much less ice-time than the Leafs other scoring lines, and this was their best game yet. The coach should have recognized it and played them more.
- Shooting constantly from everywhere is a long-term loser of a stragey.
- The power-play absolutely stinks.
- Pontus Holmberg is not a quality top-nine NHL forward.
- Ryan Reaves should never play again. The fourth line was brutal last night. Steve Lorentz is cool but no even Matthews could regularly win his minutes if you strapped him to a literal boat-anchor.
- Dressing either of Simon Benoit or Conor Timmins over Timothy Liljegren.
But of all the things that Berube did that I don't think helped the team, the worst had to be giving multiple shifts to the fourth line in the last five minutes of the third period of a one-goal game. This is the kind of idiotic thing that people would be raving about if the coach wasn't brand-new. It shouldn't matter though - it's a bad move and Berube has got to be better.
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Overall, the Leafs played a good game that very likely could have went their way if the guy in charge made better decisons.