HC Craig Berube makes feelings known about Maple Leafs fans raining boos after disappointing 4-1 loss Dallas Stars

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube addressed fans’ boos after Toronto’s 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars. The loss dropped Toronto’s record to 27-16-2 and extended their losing streak to three games.

Berube shared his perspective on fans’ reaction.

"It’s everywhere. They do it in every rink, don’t they? It is part of the game. They pay good money. They come to see hockey, and they want to see us win. That is the way it goes."

Auston Matthews opened the scoring for Toronto in the first period, but Dallas scored four unanswered goals to secure the win.

Logan Stankoven led the Stars with two goals and an assist, ending a 25-game goal drought. Matt Duchene added a goal and two assists, while Jake Oettinger made 27 saves. Dallas went 2-for-3 on the power play, while Toronto failed to score in two opportunities.

Berube mentioned the need for better execution, especially on special teams.

“It was a special teams battle tonight, I thought 5-on-5 pretty even game, pretty tight game, not much going on either way,” Berube said, per NHL.com.

“We’ve got to win that [special teams] battle. But we’re not getting the bounces I don’t think but we’re not executing good enough. I think we can execute better. We seem a little off on the execution part of things.”

Dallas ended their longest road trip of the season with a 4-1-0 record, snapping a seven-game losing streak against Toronto.

The Maple Leafs will look to end their losing streak in their next game against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Berube remains focused on improving the team’s performance.

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Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthew on the loss

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who scored the lone goal for the Leafs, acknowledged the tight play at even strength.

“I thought it was pretty tight 5-on-5,” Matthews said. “Obviously they won the special teams battle but I thought 5-on-5 there was not a whole lot of space on both ends. It was pretty close in the third period and just a couple of breakdowns and obviously they capitalize.”

The Maple Leafs (28) recorded a higher shot on goal than the Dallas Stars (23) but failed to convert it into goals. Dallas started strong in the first period with 12 shots, however, the Leafs managed to keep the game 1-1. In the following two periods, Leafs scored no goals.

“I really liked our start...we lost the special teams battle from there.” John Tavares said.

The Maple Leafs will play the Devils at Scotiabank Arena in back-to-back home games.