Craig Berube Fires Up His Team with a Bold Message Before Showdown with the Stars
Craig Berube held nothing back when addressing his gameplan ahead of Toronto's game against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
Coming off a brutal 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, and looking completely unlike the team that has sat atop the Atlantic Division, there looks to be no excuses anymore as Toronto heads into a tough game against Dallas.
Needing to be better defensively, capitalize on their chances and get their anemic powerplay back on track, there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed, not to mention their third line scoring issues that have plagued them since the beginning of the season.
Craig Berube understands this and held nothing back with his comments ahead of the Stars game and it leaves no room for error.
Craig Berube Needs No Passengers On This Journey
The Leafs head coach kept it blunt but simple when he talked about what his team needs to do on Tuesday night:
It looks like Berube wants everyone to drive the offense tonight and not just sit and wait for things to happen. Toronto has a bad habit of being too cute or trying to do too much instead of keeping it simple.
Their powerplay doesn't shoot, often making a lot of passes and holding onto the puck too long. Morgan Rielly has been one of the biggest offenders, as he's consistently unable to corral the puck, is an atrocious minus-14, and has recently been demoted to second unit duties.
Toronto's third line can't be observers either, and need to start kicking things into gear.
The team has an incredible record when Bobby McMann scores so it's imperative he gets on the scoresheet. Nick Robertson needs to increase his trade value to help the team the most and Max Domi needs to play up to his deal.
Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner can't go minus-6 each tonight, and not only do they need to step it up, but perhaps the addition of Steven Lorentz will give them enough space and energy to spark their chemistry once again.
It will also be up to the players like Oliver Ekman-Larsson to get their edge back and start producing more. William Nylander needs to start scoring again, and Max Pacioretty has to start contributing more.
There are no more excuses for the Maple Leafs especially heading into a crucial bounce back game coming off two days rest. It's time for the team to make a statement and it needs to start Tuesday night.
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