The Toronto Maple Leafs earned their first point since the Olympic break on Monday with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Despite dropping a fourth game in a row, head coach Craig Berube shared after the game that he was happy overall with his team’s effort.
“Had a lot of opportunities we didn’t capitalize on, but I thought our game was good all around,” Berube said, speaking to media. “Overall I thought the team competed hard tonight, good defence, doing a lot of good things. We just didn’t finish.”
Against the Flyers, Berube deployed an atypical top line, with Auston Matthews playing alongside William Nylander and Bobby McMann. Nylander scored a power-play marker, but the star-laden trio failed to produce at even-strength. Still, Berube said he liked what he saw from the line.
“I thought they were good,” he said, of his top line Monday. “Auston had eight shots, Willy had four. They created, they just didn’t finish. I liked it a lot.”
Matthews’ season-high shot total in a game is nine, which leads the team, also hitting eight on two other occasions. The only other Leaf who has matched that tally this season is Nylander, who managed eight shots against the Boston Bruins in November.
As the season begins to slip away, Toronto’s star players are still getting key minutes, but things haven’t been as fortunate for Easton Cowan. The 20-year-old rookie played just 8:23 on Monday, well below his average TOI this season of 13:25. Regarding Cowan, Berube said after the game that it’s not a question of exact minutes, but how he’s deployed.
“It’s not about (his minutes), it’s about where he’s slotted right now,” Berube said. “Thought he did some good things, made some good puck plays, worked hard, competed. It is what it is.”
Berube also noted that Cowan is playing a role on the team’s second power-play unit, which didn’t see too much action Monday. Cowan’s underutilization continues to be a hot topic, as many feel the team should shift focus to the future by giving minutes to young players like Cowan.
Toronto may not have come away with a win on Monday, but they are taking a point. Given his satisfaction with their play overall, Berube said they’ll be keeping at the same tactics on Wednesday when they face the New Jersey Devils.
“That’s our blueprint, that’s the way we gotta play. We gotta go into Jersey and do the same thing,” Berube said.
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