Leafs coach Craig Berube reveals what set him off on the bench early in win over Blackhawks

The Toronto Maple Leafs looked to be heading towards a third straight loss last night when they hosted the Chicago Blackhawks, who were without the services of Connor Bedard.

With the score at 2-0 midway through the third period, the Leafs scored 3 goals in a span of 7 minutes to complete the comeback. A lot of factors were at play in their comeback attempt, but perhaps none more important than what head coach Craig Berube said to his team on the bench in the first period.

With the Leafs looking flat, Berube was visibly irate behind the bench, especially after Jason Dickinson's shorthanded tally made it 2-0 in the first period. Fortunately Berube was able to laugh about it after game, but it looked to be the kick in the pants that the team needed to get pointed in the right direction.

Berube was irate for a variety of reasons, including the fact that he felt they were being bullied by the Hawks, on and off the puck. Eventually his message got through and they were able to take over in the third period.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson injected life back in the arena at the 9:59 mark before Auston Matthews and Dakota Joshua scored within 8 seconds of each other to take the lead. With the fans booing mercilessly before the 3-goal flurry, it was the type of performance you hope reignites some passion back into the team.

The Maple Leafs have a busy schedule with the holiday break right around the corner. They have 4 more games to play within the next week, which will be followed by 3 games in 4 days to end the calendar year.

A win like this is exactly what the doctor ordered as the Leafs cannot afford to lose points in the standings in games they should be winning. It gets tougher on Thursday night against the Washington Capitals, so it will be interesting to see how they come out for that one.