Leafs HC Craig Berube brushes off concerns about Auston Matthews' goal scoring drought

Auston Matthews has been in a bit of a rough patch individually over the last ten games. After the game against the New York Rangers on Friday, the Toronto Maple Leafs captain has now gone ten games without a five-on-five goal. While that is surprising for a player of his caliber, his coach, Craig Berube, isn't concerned.

Matthews last scored a five-on-five goal on Jan. 22 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Since then he has amassed one empty-net goal in the third period in the game against Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 22 and 10 assists during that stretch.

Speaking on Thursday's episode of "Overdrive," Craig Berube was asked if he was concerned about the forward's production. The head coach brushed it off instead and said:

"They're just not going in for him right now, but I think that he's doing a lot of real good things," Berube said. "He's been good defensively, killing penalties ... There's always things that could be better. That's with every player, right? But the goals aren't going in, but it's not from a lack of opportunities or getting in there and creating opportunities.

"He's getting the chances. I truly believe he's gonna come out of this thing and start scoring, for sure. I think he's just got to stick with it. The thing for me is just don't have to change a whole lot. Just keep playing good defense, keep doing your job, keep leading in those areas of the game for us and for the team. The goals will come."

Matthews has missed two major spells already for the Leafs this season. He was absent in November for nine games before being sidelined at the end of December for a six-game stretch.

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Craig Berube says the Leafs are prioritizing winning games over standings

The Leafs have missed the opportunity for home-ice advantage in the last three seasons because they were unable to finish No. 1 in the Metropolitan Division. This has led to two first-round exits and a second-round appearance two years back.

Craig Berube said that currently, it is not on their mind to finish No. 1 in their division. They are focussing on taking things one game at a time.

"We don't need to be thinking about the division and standings. We just need to think about the next game and winning it right, and then the next one after that. And, you know, things will take care of itself. And, you know, yeah, would it be great to win the division? Why not? For sure, would be and so, but we just got to focus on what we need to do to do that," Berube added.

Currently, the Leafs are No. 1 in the Atlantic division standings with a 37-20-2 record and it remains to be seen if they can hold on to the place.