Berube not ‘overly worried’ by Matthews’ lack of goals for Leafs against Panthers

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews (34) and Florida Panthers centre Eetu Luostarinen (27) go after the puck during the third period in Game 3 on Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

FORT LAUDERDALE — Auston Matthews ripped a shot from in tight. Sergei Bobrovsky picked it out of the air clean.

The Maple Leafs captain then had a couple of power-play looks the Panthers goaltender smothered before blasting another puck wide in Game 4 of the their second-round playoff series.

Matthews is used to filling the net. Toronto’s captain has twice cracked 60 regular-season goals, including falling just short of 70 in 2023-24.

The playoffs often present more challenges as opponents bear down and defences tighten. Matthews, however, has thus far fired blanks — and plenty of them — against Florida with the best-of-seven matchup now tied 2-2.

The 27-year-old, whose team was shut out 2-0 in an undisciplined Sunday performance where the Panthers dominated on what, at times, looked like tilted ice, is without a goal in the series.

He scored twice in the opening round against the Ottawa Senators, including in Toronto’s series-clinching win, but doesn’t have much to show for his 75 shot attempts in 10 playoffs games this spring.

Matthews, who dealt with an upper-body injury in a regular season that saw him briefly travel to Germany for treatment, has skipped some on-ice practice sessions in these playoffs. He’s hit the target 35 times, but his other 40 efforts have been either blocked or missed the net.

Leafs head coach Craig Berube said Monday before flying north for Wednesday’s Game 5 at home that he continues to remind his superstar centre the goals will come.

“You’ve just got to keep playing,” Berube said at the team’s hotel steps from the beach on a rainy Monday in South Florida. “I get it, but he does a lot of other things in the game that really dictate things. Does a great job with a lot of other areas. He’s just got to keep focusing on that.

“He’s out there killing penalties, he’s going against top lines, he’s checking, he’s working, he’s competing — a lot of good stuff. We’d like him to score and so would he. It’s not easy to score in a playoffs … I’m not overly worried.”

Matthews, who does have three assists in the series, was asked following Game 4 if he was feeling snake-bitten around the Panthers net.

“The chances have been there,” he said at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. “Just got to do a better job of bearing down.”

Leafs winger Mitch Marner, meanwhile, has gone two straight games without a shot on goal since scoring the winner in a 4-3 victory that gave Toronto a 2-0 series lead — one that has since evaporated in an Atlantic Division showdown that will now be decided as a best-of-three.

“Your top guys, they look to get too good of a chance sometimes,” Berube said. “There’s times where we could put more pucks on net at angles — bad angles — just firing it in there … it goes off somebody, rebounds.

“I get what (Marner’s) trying to do. He wants to upgrade the chance. He’s a passer first, but we need him to shoot pucks, too. Two games without shot, he’s got to shoot the puck.”

Toronto mustered just four shots on three second-period power plays Sunday after Florida connected once on four opportunities in the first.

“They came hard with the pressure,” Berube said of the Panthers’ penalty kill. “I didn’t think that we executed well enough.”

Matthews, meanwhile, puts tremendous pressure on himself to be an offensive catalyst. His coach continues to harp on a simple message.

“He’s going to get his looks,” Berube said. “Just stick with what he’s doing and don’t get too frustrated with anything — it’s not just about scoring.

“Big goal’s coming. That’s the way you’ve got to think about it.”

ROUGH STUFF

Leafs forward Max Domi was fined US$5,000 by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety after crushing Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov into the boards from behind to set off a melee at Sunday’s final buzzer.

Berube, however, saw an elbow to the back of Marner’s head from Florida defenceman Dmitry Kulikov — which went uncalled — earlier in the night as far more egregious.

“The Kulikov hit on Marner was 10 times worse,” he said.

CHANGES COMING?

Berube said following Game 4 he would think about lineup tweaks for Wednesday, but didn’t sound all that enthused about the idea some 12 hours later.

“I’ve liked the way our team’s played,” he said. “They get four power plays in the first period, and they end up capitalizing on one at the end. We get three power plays in the second period, and we don’t capitalize.

“If we score, it’s 1-1 a game. It’s close. It’s right there.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2025.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press