Craig Berube Explains Why He Yelled at Maple Leafs Bench: ‘It’s the Simple Things’

After battling their way through most of the game after giving up a short goal in the first period and struggling to generate much offense, the Leafs scored two goals in eight seconds late in the third period to give themselves the lead and ultimately the victory over the Blackhawks. Despite this, their effort early in the game left a lot to be desired, which Craig Berube noted after the game.

“There are momentum shifts in the game, right? You don’t have to break. You can bend. But the mistakes, the two or three mistakes you make early in the game, that’s what upsets you. It’s not necessary.”

The Maple Leafs could have been down 3-0 after the first period if a goal had not been disallowed. Craig Berube was seen screaming on his bench during the review, and later in the game. When asked what it was that confused him, he said he couldn’t land on just one thing.

“Giving up a short goal and giving up a face-off goal, these things shouldn’t happen. You know, we get muscled around our net, it’s just simple things. That’s why I was pissed.”

“It was awesome,” Berube said of the power-play goal. “It was great to see, great for him, great for our team. Like I said, I thought that line drove the game tonight, and that’s what I wanted to see. Whether they score or not, they just have more control of the game than they have and drive the game. And they did that. I thought all three of them were pretty good tonight.”

The Maple Leafs will look to bottle up what may be undeserved momentum and use it to save points as they approach Christmas.

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