The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 in the 2024-25 NHL season, but the result was not enough for coach Craig Berube to take an honest look at the performance of Auston Matthews and the rest of his teammates on the ice at Madison Square Garden.
It was the fourth win in a row and the seventh in the last eight games for the Maple Leafs of Matthews, who, despite not contributing any points, is finding his rhythm after the intense activity of the 4 Nations Face-Off with Team USA. These are days of little rest and high demands.
Berube knows his team, despite leading the Atlantic Division, can do better. Winning the league is all about the details, and the coaching staff wants Matthews and the rest of the Toronto franchise to be at the top of their game.
Berube’s message to Matthews and Maple Leafs after win over Rangers
“A little lackluster in my opinion but we found a way to get a win. But I didn’t think we generated enough offensively or got to our game tonight with our forecheck and our hard play down in the offensive zone,” Berube said after win against the Rangers, according to NHL.com.
“It was in and out too quick, so we spent too much time playing in our end. But our penalty kill was really good and our goalie was really good. I thought our defense battled hard back there but we didn’t do enough with the puck,” he admitted.
Anthony Stolarz’s standout performance
The Maple Leafs’ victory was due in large part to the outstanding play of goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who made 33 saves to keep the Rangers off the board. “He sees everything and reads the game well from the crease, and he lets our players know what’s going on,” Berube said of Stolarz.