Maple Leafs Coach Gets Brutally Honest Post Embarrassing Loss to Florida Panthers at Home: ‘Stood and Watched’

Another game, another heartbreaker if you’re repping blue and white. The Florida Panthers came out swinging and never looked back, bulldozing their way to a 6-1 thumper over the Maple Leafs right inside Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. Sergei Bobrovsky was a total brick wall, locking in 31 stops and letting absolutely nothing slide, except maybe Toronto’s hopes. And on the flip side? Panthers were dishing out goals like it was a buffet special. Ekblad, Boqvist, Kulikov, Mikkola, Greer, and Bennett all decided to crash the party. Meanwhile, Leafs fans watched Joseph Woll get shelled for five goals before Matt Murray stepped back into playoff action for the first time since 2020, only to eat another one.

It was a whole highlight reel of Panthers pressure and Leafs chaos. Matthews’ turnover gift-wrapped Florida’s opener, and Marner’s no-look pass? Yeah, that turned into Boqvist’s celebration moment. By the time the third rolled around, Toronto was already spiraling, and fans were visibly deflated. The Leafs finally snapped their goal drought in garbage time, thanks to Nicholas Robertson sneaking one past Bobrovsky. But it was too little, way too late. And now? Let’s just say, Coach wasn’t sugarcoating a thing postgame, it was raw, real, and as brutally honest as it gets.

B/R Open Ice took to X and dropped the realest postgame clip from Coach Craig Berube, and let’s just say, he did not hold back. After the Leafs got smacked 6-1 on home ice, a reporter asked, “Hey Craig, a lot of the guys are talking about resetting in the next 40 hours or so, whatever it is. How do you do that if you have a fairly good idea that the Panthers are going to come just as hard as they did just now?” And Berube? He cut straight through the noise: “Well, I don’t think they came any harder than they have, to be honest with you. I think we let them come tonight. Well, you know, I mean, we stood around and watched.” That’s not just criticism, that’s a whole mic drop.

But Craig wasn’t done. He made it real clear that this isn’t about fancy tactics anymore: “It’s more of a mindset for me going into this game six than anything else. It’s not X’s and O’s.” And even with the sting of the loss, he gave the Panthers their flowers: “They played a simple game tonight and they were excellent at it. Very good. I mean, they did exactly what they needed to do.” Still, he’s keeping hope alive: “We’ve responded in the past, you know, and I expect a response from our team.” So yeah, this wasn’t some sugar-coated pep talk. Berube dropped cold, hard truth and now Game 6? It’s either bounce back or break down.

"I don't think they came in any harder than they have… I think we let them come tonight. We stood around and watched"

– Berube on Leafs Game 5 loss pic.twitter.com/n7YU9zZVH0

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 15, 2025

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