Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is getting fed up with the team's lack of commitment to defensive hockey.
"We're scoring enough goals every game to win games. We're letting in too many goals," Berube told reporters following Toronto's 5-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. "Pretty much, this season is, we don't value the defensive side of the puck enough."
The Maple Leafs rank fifth in the NHL with 3.69 goals per game, but 31st in goals against per game with 3.75. They've allowed 10 goals in their last two games combined.
Toronto held a 4-2 lead on Sunday but Carolina scored three unanswered goals to pull off the comeback. The Hurricanes held a dominant 47-20 edge in the shot department.
Veteran forward John Tavares chalked up the collapse to immature play.
"They're a good hockey team and they put a lot of pressure on you," Tavares said. "At times we did some really good things, earned opportunities, were able to give ourselves the lead, and then our game for whatever reason becomes really immature and we don't manage the game very well."
Berube didn't necessarily disagree with Tavares' evaluation.
"Could be immaturity, not a willingness to make the easy play. Turnover after turnover cost us the game tonight," Berube said. "We didn't check anybody tonight. We didn't win any battles tonight. That's two games in a row."
The Maple Leafs are the NHL's third-oldest team with an average age of 29.24.
For Berube, becoming a better defensive team is simply a matter of will and execution.
"For me, it's just a mindset," he said. "If you want to be a good defensive team you gotta check, you gotta have good sticks, you gotta be hard, you gotta win battles, and you gotta have good structure."
He added, "We don't have any of that right now."
At five-on-five, the Maple Leafs rank 26th in expected goals share and 20th in expected goals against per 60 minutes, per Evolving-Hockey. Toronto ranked 19th and 16th in those stats, respectively, last season - its first year under Berube - but rode the league's second best five-on-five save percentage (.926) to an Atlantic Division title. This year, the Maple Leafs rank 30th with an .879 five-on-five save percentage.
The 8-7-1 Maple Leafs have a 32.7% chance of making the playoffs this season, according to MoneyPuck.
