Berube: Leafs lacked 'life and energy' in loss to Canucks

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube lamented his team's ability to generate a spark in Saturday's 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.

"I didn't think we had enough pace in the game or played with enough energy," Berube said. "You need more life and energy. I didn't think we had that tonight."

He added, "We didn't move the puck well enough tonight. I didn't think we were connected well enough on breakouts or in the neutral zone. And just slow."

Toronto trailed 31 seconds into the game after a goal by Brock Boeser and was unable to recover. The Maple Leafs mustered only 20 shots on goal and went 0-for-3 on the power play en route to being shutout for the third time this season.

"Not good enough," defenseman Chris Tanev said, according to The Athletic's Jonas Siegel. "They outworked us. That's why they won."

The Canucks were on the second half of a back-to-back, and their travel plans from Carolina on Friday night were interrupted due to inclement weather. Vancouver didn't land in Toronto until Saturday afternoon but still managed to snap a four-game skid.

"A lot of character in here," captain Quinn Hughes said, per Postmedia's Lance Hornby. "No one was feeling sorry for themselves, not just because of how the last few games have gone. Nothing out of the ordinary today, we've all played junior when there's a lot going on."

The Maple Leafs have lost two consecutive games after winning five in a row. They remain on top of the Atlantic Division with 56 points having played one more game than the second-place Florida Panthers and four more games than the third-place Tampa Bay Lightning.