Craig Berube frustrated with Maple Leafs’ second period effort despite comeback win vs. Penguins

The Toronto Maple Leafs scored four unanswered goals in the third period of Monday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins to win 4-3, but you won’t find head coach Craig Berube celebrating anything.

The Leafs struggled in the first period, allowing two goals to head into the second period down 2-0, but it didn’t feel like anything insurmountable. Berube expected his team to come out with a strong pushback in the second period, but the result was an even worse period than the first. They went into the third period down 3-0 before scoring three goals in under four minutes to tie the game, but Berube isn’t going to be so quick to forget the periods that preceded the comeback.

“I didn’t think the first period was that bad, made a mistake on the first goal, second goal was a bounce,” Berube told media following the game. “What upsets me is we come out in the second period down 2-0, you think we’re going to make a push, and we didn’t. And they controlled the whole period with the puck.”

Whatever Berube said to the team at second intermission clearly worked, but he wasn’t about to reveal what exactly was said.

“It doesn’t matter what I said. That’s in the room. I’m not going to talk about that.”

It feels like the conversation about playing a full 60 minutes has plagued the Leafs for the entirety of the past half-decade, and when asked why bringing the third period effort for the second and first period was such a challenge, Berube didn’t have much to offer.

“I have no clue. I don’t have an answer for that right now,” Berube said. “Like I said, the second period, they got the puck and did whatever they wanted with it. We didn’t check anybody, we didn’t knock anybody off the puck, and when we did get it, we gave it back to them, and they just kept coming back down our throats. I mean, it’s just not good enough.”

Berube wasn’t all sour grapes after the game, in fact, he made a point to shout out his team’s defensive effort after they had the lead. He also made it clear that the team is going to find themselves in situations like this throughout the season, but made sure to note that the lack of initial pushback is why he was unhappy with the effort despite the win.

“This happens throughout the season, it’s a good comeback win, right?” Berube continued.1 “Guys played in the third and did what they’re capable of doing, came back and won a game, and that’s a good feeling. But, you know, we have to understand that you’re going to get down by a couple of goals in this league. Bounces, whatever happens. It’s the response that’s needed to get back in the game. Now, we got that response in the third, I don’t understand why we never got it right away in the second. That’s the frustrating part. It’s all mental for me. Just gotta be better, that’s the bottom line.”

The Maple Leafs are back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Utah Mammoth, another team that’s seen some significant improvement from last season, and you can bet that Berube will be hammering that point about when to respond in preparation for the game.