NHL News: Maple Leafs HC Craig Berube makes strong self-criticism after tough loss to Sharks

Being at the top of the Atlantic Division doesn’t mean the atmosphere inside the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ locker room after the loss to the San Jose Sharks was the most satisfying. Craig Berube knows his players had the opportunity to win the game, but their opponent dealt a tough blow to one of the serious contenders this season in the NHL.

According to the words of the experienced coach after the game in which his team lost 3-2 to their rivals, the fact that the victory was within reach and slipped away just like that was somewhat frustrating for the Toronto players.

“It’s disappointing, any loss is disappointing,” Berube said via NHL.com. “A 2-0 lead, we are in a good spot to close it out and we didn’t do the job. We had a chance in OT with the power play and couldn’t get one.”

Regarding his analysis of the game and perhaps emphasizing the specific moment when the result slipped away from the Maple Leafs, Berube pointed out what happened during the third period, where the coach believes they could have done a better job in that stretch.

Craig Berube of the St Louis Blues speaks to the press during Media Day for the 2020 NHL All-Star at Stifel Theatre on January 23, 2020 in St Louis, Missouri.

“We turned the puck over a little bit in the third period,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “One ended up in the back of our net. We just needed to do a better job checking in the third period I guess, not turn the puck over as much as we did.”

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Warsofsky praised his players’ performance in the victory

This was definitely not just another win for the Sharks, at least not this season. Interestingly, the last-place team in the Pacific Division ended up defeating the top team in the Atlantic Division, something that, while possible, is quite unlikely.

Once the victory was secured and after speaking with the press, San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky gave all the credit to his players, highlighting their character in going after the game even while being at a disadvantage.

“The biggest thing was I just felt like we were down on ourselves, and that can happen with where we are at, right?” Warsofsky said. “The loses have piled up but we’ve been doing some pretty good things and we can’t feel bad for ourselves. It’s the National Hockey League. I just reminded them we had eight guys who had a lot of family and friends here to watch them and they came to watch 60 minutes, not 40, and my last message was it would be a (heck) of a story. Credit to the group, they dug in, kept competing and found a way to win.”