Craig Berube on the recent play of the Matthews line: "It's obviously not good enough... I don't feel like they have any sustained pressure in the offensive zone at all"

"Reads, for sure. Our defensemen are just standing in there or jumping in there and not reading what is coming at them. We're late sometimes with our reloads, and one of the biggest things is turnovers. We have to be smarter. Our D have to be smarter. They have to read the play. They can't be going all out. They're a quick team."

"It is a good team over there with a lot of speed. They're dynamic in the offensive zone, and they get it moving around. The biggest thing: When we get opportunities, whether they put the puck in deep or whatever, you have to get in there and kill that play right away with numbers. We are slow to do it. They get moving around in our zone, and once Hughes and these guys get moving around, they're dynamic, and they're hard to stop."

The team fell behind in the second period and failed to manage the game, which created a decisive deficit. Defensive breakdowns included poor reads, defensemen standing or jumping into plays, late reloads and turnovers that led to numerous odd-man rushes. Slow recoveries in the defensive zone allowed quick transition attacks from speedy, dynamic forwards who move the puck and create sustained danger. A goaltending interference challenge was considered a 50-50 call tied to goalie positioning in the blue paint. The top scoring line has lacked sustained pressure and the team must be smarter defensively and execute quicker kill plays.

Read at Maple Leafs Hotstove