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Maple Leafs’ Craig Berube laments special teams, lack of offence in loss to Islanders
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Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Michael Mazzei
Mar 18, 2026, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 17, 2026, 22:52 EDT
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Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube pointed to special teams and the team’s anemic offence as factors in their 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Coming off a three-game stretch where they were able to secure five out of a possible six points against three playoff-bound teams, the Leafs looked outmatched from the jump and were never able to really gain much momentum. The players looked disconnected, the passes were sloppy, and the effort was lacking apart from Steven Lorentz’s second-period goal.
“Special teams were the difference in the game.  Gave up two PK goals in the first,” Berube said to reporters after the game. “ For me, we gotta do a better job there at goal line plays.  One was a lucky balance kind of, but our power play didn’t create enough.  We didn’t do enough to generate anything tonight. 5-on-5 was probably a pretty even game, let me tell you. But special teams were the difference tonight.”
Berube felt his players didn’t do more with the puck after gaining it back on the forecheck and didn’t crash the net enough. Creating chaos in the crease could have led to secondary scoring chances, but the coach felt those were few and far between. The bench boss was happy to see some secondary scoring via the aforementioned Lorentz goal, which was set up by Bo Groulx with his fourth point in five games since being called up from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
“ He’s been very good. I’ve talked about him. He’s been very good since he’s been called up,” Berube said. “ He’s done a lot of good things. Not just the points and the goals, it’s the other side of the game. Very smart and positioned, does a good job. I think he’s played extremely well for us.”
One of the major talking points that emerged from the Auston Matthews incident was the fact that the four players on the ice did not immediately respond after Anaheim Ducks captain Radko Gudas laid the hit. It drew heavy backlash from fans and media members alike, especially given this wasn’t the first time a hit of this nature went unpunished in the immediate aftermath.
The Leafs have played with an uptick in physical play since that moment, with at least one fight in each of the last five games. Morgan Rielly took exception to Kyle MacLean crashing into Joseph Woll during Tuesday’s contest, and fought the Islanders’ enforcer.
“It’s a great job by him getting in there and sticking up for Joseph. Obviously, that message has gotten across,” Berube said. “It’s been a tough year for him; we all know that. And he took that personally against Matthews. But it’s not just on Mo or this guy, it’s everybody.  They all should have been in there right away. But I think that they’ve obviously learned from it and it’s been a difference now.”

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