The misery for the Toronto Maple Leafs continued on Saturday night, as they dropped a 5-2 decision to the rival Tampa Bay Lightning, a game that also featured a goal from Corey Perry, recently re-acquired from the Los Angeles Kings.
The loss dropped the Maple Leafs to the last spot in the Atlantic Division, and as time ticked away in the third period, the fans who hadn’t already gotten a head start on the traffic let a chorus of boos rain down.
Maple Leafs fans pay some of the highest prices in the National Hockey League for coveted tickets, something that head coach Craig Berube acknowledged afterward.
“Hey, they pay good money to come see us and they want to win, just like we do,” Berube said. “That’s part of the game everywhere.”
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Craig Berube Discussed The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Response To Trailing Early
The Maple Leafs proved to be no match for the Lightning, who torched them thanks to four assists from Russian superstar forward Nikita Kucherov and a goal by Corey Perry in his return to the Lightning after several years.
While the Maple Leafs managed to take an early 1-0 lead, the Lightning responded with four straight tallies, taking a 4-1 lead into the first intermission.
“Tough break on the first goal,” Berube said. “I thought that kind of took a little bit out of us and put us on our heels a little. They capitalized on a couple more and got a power-play goal.”
“We had some good looks and didn’t put it in the net,” he continued. “I felt like we were a little bit… not tentative after they scored their first goal, but we didn’t stay with what we were doing. We kind of backed off too much.
The second period was better. We checked better and didn’t give up a lot. We have to finish better; we had some looks and didn’t finish.”
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Morale Was Down On The Maple Leafs’ Bench During The First Period
Not only did the Lightning soon knot the score at 1-1, but they eventually scored three more times before the buzzer sounded to end the game’s opening frame.
Naturally, the morale on the Maple Leafs’ bench wasn’t the greatest during that time.
“In the first, after that goal — the first goal that went in, followed by the other one — the bench was a little bit down,” Berube said. “I thought the guys came out in the second and played the right way. That’s a good sign, but in the end, we have to come out and play to win the game, not lose the game.”
Berube concluded by saying that he believes that the team tries to protect their leads rather than continuing on the offensive, something that happened against the Lightning after taking a 1-0 early advantage.
“Right now, when a goal goes in or two goals go in, we kind of protect too much,” he said. “We don’t stay on our toes and play.”
The Leafs, who are tied for the last place in the Atlantic Division, will next face the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday evening.
Maple Leafs Respond To Fans Booing Them Off The Ice