The Maple Leafs practiced at Ford Performance Centre on Friday before travelling to Boston.

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Craig Berube gave Auston Matthews an earful when the star centre returned to the bench after the third St. Louis Blues goal on Thursday night.

"It's just accountability to everybody," the new Leafs coach explained. "That's all it is. It's nothing personal. It's just me being a coach and doing what I think is right at the time."

"It's hockey, you get yelled at sometimes," Matthews said. "Coach yells, you just kind of take it as it goes. There's obviously an impact. We obviously all respect him and his presence and everything on the bench. It's not anything you take personal."

It's also not something we've seen much of during Matthews career in Toronto. Even when he's not scoring, Matthews is usually a reliable two-way force. Last season, he was a Selke Trophy nominee for the first time while scoring 69 goals.

But during Toronto's two-game skid, Matthews has gone from Selke to sloppy. He was minus-three during Tuesday's 6-2 loss in Columbus. Again, he was minus-three in Thursday's 5-1 defeat to the Blues. It's the first time that's happened – consecutive games of minus-three or worse – in his career.

On the play that earned a rebuke from Berube, Matthews received a pass from defenceman Jake McCabe in the slot. It seemed to handcuff him and he steered the puck back into the corner where Pavel Buchnevich won a battle for the puck with Matthews and McCabe before tapping it to Jordan Kyrou who fed an open Alexandre Texier in the slot. Texier wired a shot past Joseph Woll. Leafs winger Mitch Marner, a Selke nominee a couple years ago, seemed to be anticipating a transition rush the other way and couldn't get back in time.

"Just communication was off," said Matthews. "Covering the middle of the ice is obviously very important. We didn't have that covered and they made us pay."

Berube described the sequence as "lazy hockey."

"We need to be more direct with that puck," said Marner. "It wasn't the prettiest of plays out of the five guys on the ice."

On the first Blues goal, Marner got pulled out of position and wasn't in the lane to deny a point shot by Blues defenceman Philip Broberg. Matthews was at the net front but failed to block the shot while inadvertently screening Woll.

On the second Blues goal, Matthews was out of position during a penalty kill, which allowed Dylan Holloway to get in all alone on Woll.

Like Matthews, Marner was minus-three in each of the last two games. Like Matthews, it's the first time that's happened to him in the NHL.

"Just a little loose in some areas," Berube said of his top line. "We looked at that stuff today and talked to those guys so they'll be better."

What needs to change?

"Just cleaning up our little touches in D zone, cleaner exits," Matthews said. "Making sure that we're holding firmly in the slots so when there are........

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