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Maple Leafs Coach Assigns Blame After Loss to Hurricanes
John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The Toronto Maple Leafs gave up three unanswered goals and lost 5–4 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night, closing out a winless weekend on home ice after dropping the game against the Boston Bruins played on Saturday.

Toronto led 4–2 midway through the second period before surrendering goals to Sean Walker, Taylor Hall, and Logan Stankoven. The Hurricanes outshot the Leafs 22–2 in the third period alone.

Leafs head coach Craig Berube didn't hold back when addressing the losses, blaming them on the defense.

“I thought we were really trending in the right direction without the puck,” head coach Craig Berube said. “We’re scoring goals, but now we just went right off the rails the last two games defensively.”

The loss followed Saturday’s 5–3 defeat to the Bruins, leaving Toronto at 8–7–1 through 16 games. The Leafs have now allowed 60 goals this season, second most in the NHL.

“We are going to have discussions with players and the team,” Berube said. “We are scoring enough goals every game to win games, but we are letting in too many.”

Rookie goalie Dennis Hildeby made 42 saves but was left unprotected on several rushes. Berube did not blame his goaltender for allowing goals amid a bad defensive effort by his teammates.

“He made a lot of saves,” Berube said. “We gave him three or four breakaways in the second period, I lost count. It has nothing to do with the goalie.”

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube during a press conference.John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

William Nylander scored twice for Toronto, while John Tavares and Auston Matthews each recorded a goal and an assist. Over the season through Sunday's slate of games, the Leafs have scored the third-most goals (59) across the NHL.

Toronto, however, has a minus-1 goal difference and has lost two games in a row, sitting near the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings.

The Leafs will visit the Bruins on Tuesday night, with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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