Craig Berube addresses the lack of scoring from Auston Matthews.

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has had himself a very respectable playoff performance through his first 9 games in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, with the star forward registering 2 goals and 8 assists, a total of 10 points, and boasts plus minus rating of +3 over that stretch of play. In spite of his success however Matthews has drawn criticism for not delivering on what he normally does best, putting pucks in the back of the net.

Some of Matthews' critics have been quick to point to the fact that the Maple Leafs captain has missed the net more than any other player currently active in the Stanley Cup playoffs, with a total of 19 shot attempts going wide of the net for Matthews.

On Saturday, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube was asked about this very stat and Berube was quick to come to the defense of his player.

"Listen he's obviously a great scorer, we all know that," said Berube. "I'm not too worried about it, it is what it is."

Berube may have had more to say but stopped himself short of doing so when elaborating a little on his answer.

"Yeah he needs to hit the net," said Berube. "He's trying to hit the net, he's not trying to miss the net, he's trying to hit the net.... I'm not gonna really elaborate on that too much."

Matthews is currently leading all active players in the Stanley Cup playoffs for shots on goal with 32 but has yet to find the back of the net in the second round against the Florida Panthers.