Josh Gold-Smith

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube expressed frustration with his entire roster following Thursday's 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues."Our whole team is getting a little cute," Berube told reporters, including Sportsnet's Luke Fox, postgame. "We just gotta play direct.”Berube was coaching against the Blues for the first time since they fired him last December, about four-and-a-half years after he led them to a Stanley Cup championship.The Maple Leafs outshot the Blues 41-27 on Thursday and won 68.3% of the faceoffs. However, St. Louis held a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes on goals by offer-sheet acquisitions Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway.Toronto defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson got his club within one in the second period, but Alexandre Texier capitalized on a Leafs turnover to restore the Blues' two-goal advantage less than two minutes later. Texier with the quick response to put the blues up by 2! 🚨 pic.twitter/Fr89ABdE82— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 25, 2024 Berube wasn't happy with his team's effort on that one."The third goal is just not doing things right and it was lazy hockey," he said, according to TSN's Mark Masters. "That's the bottom line.""We're just losing coverage," Berube added. "We're not helping each other out in the coverage areas. (We're giving) too much time and space on some of ... them instead of being physical and closing plays out."Jake Neighbours tallied an insurance marker early in the final frame after Maple Leafs forward William Nylander coughed up the puck in Toronto's offensive zone. Neighbours makes it a THREE GOAL GAME! 🤯 pic.twitter/zKX9WKgKHm— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 25, 2024 "My play was stupid there in the third period," the star forward said. "Gotta be better than that. ... At that point in the game, (losing) 3-1 (with) 17 minutes left, there's still a lot (of) time … got to be better situational awareness on my part."Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll made his first start of the campaign, which was supposed to take place in the Leafs' season opener until he was ruled out due to injury. He gave up four goals on 26 shots in defeat, while his counterpart, Jordan Binnington, made 40 saves en route to victory.Toronto (4-4-0) suffered its second consecutive lopsided loss after falling 6-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on the second half of a back-to-back on Tuesday. The Maple Leafs hit the road to face the Boston Bruins on Saturday night and then the Winnipeg Jets on Monday before coming home to host the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 31.The Blues improved to 5-3-0. They were playing the first tilt of a four-game road trip that will continue in Montreal on Saturday.

Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun is day-to-day after suffering an injury Tuesday night but the team is awaiting more information, head

Mat Barzal has left the New York Islanders' road trip and returned home due to an upper-body injury, the club announced Friday. Barzal's recovery timeline will be determined once he consults with team doctors.The talented forward hasn't missed a game this season but won't play against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night. The Islanders take on the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden before hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.Barzal logged 22:46 in a 2-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, with his last shift ending at the final horn. He came into Friday's action tied for third on the Isles in goals (two) and points (five) so far in 2024-25. The Long Island-based squad is already missing forward Anthony Duclair, who was ruled out for four-to-six weeks due to a lower-body ailment on Oct. 24. The Islanders (3-5-2) enter the weekend sitting second-last in the Metropolitan Division by points percentage (.400), ahead of only the Penguins. New York is last in the group in terms of total points (eight to Pittsburgh's nine), but the Isles have played two fewer games than the Pens.Barzal led the Islanders with 80 points in 80 games last season. His 57 assists ranked second behind defenseman Noah Dobson's 60.

Colorado Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen will play in a game for the first time this season Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken, head coach Jared Bednar announced Monday, according to NHL.com's Ryan Boulding

The Boston Bruins inked forward Tyler Johnson to a one-year pact at the league minimum of $775,000, the club announced Monday.

Macklin Celebrini returned to the San Jose Sharks' lineup Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella is sending a message to Matvei Michkov despite how well the phenom has started his NHL career.

The first edition of these rankings is always the most difficult because of the relatively small sample size.

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy got to 300 wins faster than anyone else in NHL history, doing so in his 490th game to break Jacques Plante's record with a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.

The Vancouver Canucks assigned forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, on Thursday.Lekkerimaki, the organization's top prospect, made his NHL debut in a win over the Calgary Flames on Nov. 12. He scored his first goal in the league two nights later in a loss to the New York Islanders. However, he failed to notch any other points over five games in total. The 20-year-old has five goals and two assists across seven games with Abbotsford this season.Lekkerimaki, who the Canucks drafted 15th overall in 2022, starred for Sweden at the 2024 World Junior Championship. He scored the game-winner against Czechia to help the Swedes advance to the gold-medal game, which they lost to the United States. However, Lekkerimaki was named tournament MVP after tying for the goal-scoring lead among all skaters with seven in seven contests. The Canucks recalled forward Max Sasson in a corresponding move Thursday. The 24-year-old hasn't yet played in the NHL. He has four goals and five assists in 16 games with Abbotsford in 2024-25, his third campaign with the farm club.