Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is optimistic about his team’s offensive output through October, with plenty of room for improvement.

As the Maple Leafs play their 10th game of the season against the Calgary Flames, it naturally invited a chance for Berube to reflect upon what’s worked, and what hasn’t, for his club through October.

“I think we have scored goals. We’ve scored enough goals to win more games than we have. And I like how we’re starting to get some secondary scoring here with some guys. And the new guys coming in, I think are feeling more comfortable and starting to just understand what we need from them and their roles. I’m excited about that. But we’re still not firing on all cylinders yet, either defensively or just our identity of how we want to play (during) the last two games. We were way more direct. We were more physical, how we want to play. So we just got to keep working at it. I think we got to keep improving, for sure.”

Toronto’s 31 goals scored are tied for 8th in the NHL prior to Tuesday’s slate, while the club holds a 4-4-1 record. William Nylander (game-time decision) is tied for fifth in NHL scoring with three goals and 14 points, while John Tavares isn’t far behind, registering five goals and 12 points to begin the year. Although the Maple Leafs are scoring in the upper quartile, they haven’t defended well against the rush to begin the year, and mitigating odd-man rushes has been a point of emphasis through the first month of the year.

It’s been an invigorating month across Toronto’s sports calendar, as the Blue Jays lost an 18-inning marathon to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Berube, like many Maple Leafs, has been avidly following the Blue Jays’ playoff run, and offered his thoughts on the team’s strategy, commending manager John Schneider.

“I mean, that’s a tough one,” Berube said Tuesday. “They play again tonight, it’s like, you know, get to bed late, it’s a long haul. Use a lot of pitchers. I think they just keep doing some the same things they’re doing. Like I don’t think they get away from what they’ve been doing. They’re been successful and the game’s right there. You know, one play here or there and it’s a different ball game. They win the game.”

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