HC Craig Berube calls out Maple Leafs defense after yet another meltdown in 5-4 loss to Hurricanes: "We don't value the defensive side enough"

The Toronto Maple Leafs squandered a two-goal lead and fell 5-4 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena marking their second consecutive home loss. Despite another strong offensive showing including two goals from William Nylander and a multi-point night from captain John Tavares, Toronto’s defensive breakdowns proved costly once again.

Head coach Craig Berube didn’t mince words afterward during the postgame presser. He pointed out that the defeat stemmed from a lack of structure and compete level rather than tactical issues.

“We are going to have discussions with players and the team. We are scoring enough goals every game to win games, but we are letting in too many,” he said. “Pretty much the season so far is that we don’t value the defensive side of the puck enough. There are a number of things that go into that — I am not going to get into it all — but right now, we don’t value that.”

The Leafs led 4-2 midway through the second period but surrendered three unanswered goals. Logan Stankoven scored the go-ahead goal in the third.

“If you want to be a good defensive team, you have to check. You have to have good sticks. You have to be hard and win battles. You’ve got to have good structure,” the coach added.

The Leafs have scored enough to stay competitive averaging over four goals per game in their recent stretch but have struggled to protect leads.

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Craig Berube shields Leafs goaltending

During the interview, Craig Berube noted that the issue isn’t goaltending. Rookie Dennis Hildeby faced over 40 shots and was left exposed on multiple odd-man rushes.

When asked about Hildeby’s performance on the night, the head coach refused to blame his goaltender.

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

The defeat capped off a frustrating weekend for Toronto which also lost to Boston on Saturday. Berube said the club had been trending the right way defensively before suddenly veering off track.

“Our power play is clicking, we’re scoring goals, but we just went right off the rails the last two games defensively,” he said. “It’s caused by puck play, costly turnovers and a lack of urgency to defend.”

The Maple Leafs will take on the Boston Bruins next week at TD Garden.

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Edited by Anjum Rajonno