Berube laments ‘inexcusable’ Leafs performance

MONTREAL – Craig Berube was out of answers.

The Toronto Maple Leafs fell 5-2 to the rival Montreal Canadiens in a battle of two slumping teams Saturday night, losing for the seventh time in eight games amid a season that began with Stanley Cup aspirations.

Berube watched his group control play early, registering the game’s first six shots, only to fold once the Canadiens capitalized on two quick opportunities, and then come out flat in a dismal second period.

It’s a pattern the Leafs coach had seen before – and he still couldn’t grasp why.

“We’re down 2-0, but I just don’t understand why we can’t go out in the second period to dictate how we’re going to play the period,” he said. “That’s the difference for me. They dictated the game in the second period. They put their foot on the gas, and took it to us.”

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The Leafs, who have a minus-11 goal differential in second periods this season, recorded zero shots for a stretch of 10:59 (from 16:48 to 5:49).

The Canadiens registered 10 over the same span, including an 81-second keep-away session during a delayed Toronto penalty.

“We go out there and we don’t play with any urgency or any confidence in the second period, because we get down a couple goals,” Berube said. “That’s an excuse all day long for me. This is a veteran hockey team. It’s inexcusable, and it’s on me too. It’s on all of us.

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“With a veteran team like that, that shouldn’t happen.”

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Noah Dobson and Josh Anderson scored twice to help the Canadiens snap a five-game losing streak and build confidence heading into a three-game Western road trip.

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Dobson skated into a one-timer teed up by Ivan Demidov at 4:09 in the middle frame for his second of the night.

Berube then pulled goalie Joseph Woll after Anderson pushed Montreal’s lead to 4-0 just 13:11 into the second period, and Canadiens fans began belting out “Olé, Olé” chants with more than 25 minutes still to play.

“We were just giving freebies to them, I just had had enough,” said Berube, who called Woll’s performance “excellent” despite giving up four goals on 25 shots.

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Asked if he made the decision to save the team or Woll – who’s shouldering the load with Anthony Stolarz injured – Berube said “both.”

“Second period was real tough,” added centre John Tavares. “Just didn’t respond well after we got down two, you know, we’d been playing pretty well to that point.

“We just weren’t able to kind of get things going in the second period until really late, and put us in a big hole.”

Defenceman Jake McCabe also exited in the second period after taking a puck to the face, adding to Toronto’s injury woes. The Leafs were already down Stolarz, captain Auston Matthews and four other regulars, including Brandon Carlo and Chris Tanev on defence.

Berube said he didn’t know the timeline of McCabe’s injury, but called it “bad enough he couldn’t come back to play.”

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Winger William Nylander said the string of injuries and defeats will harden the team, which currently sits second-last in the Eastern Conference and four points out of a playoff spot.

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“It’s tough right now,” he said. “But in the end I think it’ll be good for our group.”

XHEKAJ BROTHERS

Canadiens forward Florian Xhekaj lived up to his brother’s reputation in his NHL debut, giving Montreal a much-needed spark.

The younger brother of bruising Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj laid a huge hit on his opening shift, tallied an assist and dropped the gloves for a big third-period fight against Dakota Mermis.

He then lifted his arms in the air to pump up the crowd as the Bell Centre erupted, while teammates banged their sticks along the boards.

“I kind of fired up our bench, fired up our crowd after, I had so much adrenaline,” the six-foot-four, 204-pound winger said.

Arber, meanwhile, was enjoying every minute.

“I mean, I see my younger bro throw hands like that, it’s awesome,” he said. “I couldn’t stop banging my stick. I was yelling at him, ‘Show the crowd some love! Show the crowd some love! He fired them up and yeah, it was perfect, it was awesome.”

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Florian and Arber Xhekaj became the 14th pair of brothers to play in the same game for the Canadiens, and the latest since Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn in 2010.

Their mom, Simona, father, Jack, and two sisters travelled from Hamilton to Montreal on Saturday morning to be there.

“Not many guys can say they played their first NHL game at the Bell Centre against the Leafs, and then to have my brother here with me, it’s truly special,” Florian said. “And for my dad and my mom to be here, I mean, there’s nothing I could ask for more.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2025.