The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a tailspin, and the frustration is starting to boil over. Head coach Craig Berube didn’t hold back after his team dropped its fifth straight home game Tuesday night, a 7-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres that exposed all the cracks in Toronto’s game - from puck management to defensive coverage and everything in between.
This wasn’t just another bad night at the office. This was a game that slipped away because of the same issues that have plagued the Leafs throughout this brutal stretch - mental lapses, missed assignments, and a lack of urgency in key moments. And Berube, who’s been trying to balance criticism with support since taking over behind the bench, is clearly running out of patience.
“We had a couple of bad breaks go off our guys,” Berube said postgame. “But at the end of the first, we turn the puck over, and they score.
End of the second, shot from the point, no one in front, and they score. That’s the difference in the game.
Then we come out in the third and get scored on the first shift. Two or three mistakes, and they’re in our net.”
That sequence tells the story of where this team is right now. It’s not just about getting outplayed - it’s about self-inflicted wounds.
The Leafs are 0-4-1 on this homestand and have now fallen to 24-20-9 on the season. They’re eight points out of a playoff spot with two teams to leapfrog.
That’s not an impossible climb, but with the way they’re playing, it feels like Everest.
Berube’s message is simple: do your job. It’s a phrase that might echo from Foxborough to Scotiabank Arena, but for the Leafs, it’s become a mantra out of necessity. The coach isn’t asking for perfection - he’s asking for accountability.
“Keep trying to work on things, and stop making [those mistakes], first of all,” he said. “The guys need to do what they’re supposed to do - do your job.
We’re not getting any breaks right now, so we have to earn them. All we can do is push forward and focus on the next game.”
The most baffling part? Just a short time ago, the Leafs looked like a team on the rise.
Their last road trip had all the ingredients of a group starting to click - confidence, structure, swagger. But since returning home, they’ve looked like a completely different team.
The energy’s missing, the execution is off, and the belief seems to be fading.
“It is puzzling, for sure,” Berube admitted. “Coming off the road trip and how good we had been playing.”
So what’s the fix? According to Berube, it starts with a shift in mindset.
This team has been leaning too heavily on its offensive firepower, hoping to outscore its problems. But in today’s NHL, that’s not a sustainable formula - not when you’re giving up this many high-danger chances and struggling to defend your own net.
“We looked at scoring as everything, and it’s not everything,” Berube said. “You’re not going to consistently win in this league by focusing on scoring goals.
You have to play the full rink. Right now, we’re not doing a good enough job without the puck.
That’s it.”
That’s about as blunt as it gets - and it’s the kind of message that can either wake a team up or fall on deaf ears. The Leafs are heading out west for a four-game road swing, followed by two more in Florida.
It’s a stretch that could define their season, and Berube knows it. His message heading into the trip?
Keep it simple. Show up.
Compete. Do your job.
“Confidence… you have to go, work, and compete. Your confidence will be fine,” he said.
“I get it, but we’re in the NHL. You’re getting paid to play hockey.
You have to go and do the job. That’s your job.
Do your job.”
Thursday night in Seattle, we’ll find out which version of the Maple Leafs shows up - the one that looked like a contender just weeks ago, or the one that’s been unraveling on home ice. Either way, the clock is ticking.