The Leafs' Start Under Craig Berube Shouldn't be as Alarming as Fans are Making It Out to Be

The Leafs played a mostly solid game against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night after two absolute stinkers against the Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues earlier in the week. Unfortunately, it ended in a loss after Auston Matthews' terrible giveaway in overtime, which he held himself accountable for.

At the very least, the Leafs came away with a point and pushed their record to 4-4-1 instead of 4-5-0. Small victories, as they say.

Although they have lost three in a row, and Leafs fans and Toronto media are less than enthused about the start, history shows that the Leafs have started in similar fashion the past three seasons and have gone on to have perfectly competitive years. Under Sheldon Keefe in his final three seasons as the head coach of the Leafs, the team started with an identical 4-4-1 record twice while starting last season 5-3-1.

While it's not the perfect start the Winnipeg Jets are having at 8-0-0, one of the positives for the Leafs is the fact that the players are actually holding themselves accountable, specifically Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares.

As expected, there are growing pains in learning new systems with Craig Berube, despite playing very well through their first six games. With a showdown Monday in Winnipeg, fans and the Leafs themselves are hopeful the team can perform the way they did this past Monday when they dismantled the Tampa Bay Lightning instead of performing the way they did against Columbus or St. Louis on Tuesday and Thursday. It's still early enough that this team can get things back on track and build some momentum.