Post-game comments following the Maple Leafs’ 4-1 loss to the Capitals on Tuesday night.
Think it wound up being a tough spot with the back-to-backs and the busy schedule?
Babcock: That’s the way the schedule is. I thought they played good, and I didn’t think we did. I thought they had energy and we didn’t have a whole bunch. We had a push at the start of the second period. I thought we were playing pretty good, and then we took the bad penalty on the power play there, and then they scored on the power play on a missed assignment there. I didn’t think we had much after that to be honest with you.
Losing Brian certainly comprised you guys?
Babcock: Obviously, on a back-to-back you’d like to have a fourth center. When you look at the game, they came out and dictated play right from the get go. I didn’t think we had a whole lot of answers, to be honest with you. I thought they were a good team that was hungry, that was competitive, that won battles. [They] won more battles than we did and had more energy tonight.
Any early indication on Brian’s condition?
Babcock: I just talked to the doc. They’ll reassess in the morning and let me know what’s going on. Upper-body injury.
Facing the best team in the league a good lesson?
Babcock: I don’t want to make any excuses, but I’d like to, obviously, play them tomorrow and then have a measuring stick. To me, we didn’t measure anything. We didn’t find out how good they are because we didn’t push them at all. It was a one-sided game. They were better than us start to finish. Like I said, we had eight minutes or something there at the start of the second, but other than that, they were bigger, stronger, more organized, and better.
Connor Carrick
What was their speed and physicality like from a defenceman’s perspective, in terms of time and space with the puck to make that first pass?
Carrick: They had good sticks, they had good speed through the neutral zone. Every night you talk about the importance of slowing them down and playing in their end for a bit so they’re not in their fresher part of their shift skating downhill on you. But they were able to kind of tilt the ice their way, and the game gets more uphill for you as a defenceman when the other team is able to do that. It’s the same thing every team talks about: Go get the other team’s d-men. It’s a hunt-the-defencemen mentality for all 30 teams.
The team beat them in November and came close in January. It seems you guys can play with them when you get your feet going and maybe a little rest coming into it.
Carrick: Yeah, there were no excuses. I don’t know what their schedule looked like the last few times playing us, and I don’t think anybody cares. For us, there are always more difficult and more demanding parts of your schedule. That’s what they pay you for – they pay you to play the hard games. The easy games where you’re feeling good and the execution is strong, you play those games for free. You’re on the payroll to be a pro and maybe we didn’t handle it with as much success as we would’ve liked.
A day off certainly something you’re looking forward to as you look forward to the next big game?
Carrick: It kind of seems like you’re trying to get our eight hours and play a game; get your eight hours and play a game. It will be a nice break tomorrow and we’ll be charged up on Thursday.
What lesson do you draw from playing the best team in the league?
Carrick: There is a level of execution they play with, a level of energy, and a level of physicality that I think is going to be a staple of the teams that have made the playoffs now and are going to have success. It’s our job to answer that. A lot of nights we have this year. That’s why we’re in the position we’re in. Going forward, it’s about consistency and being able to bring it every night and giving yourself a chance to win.
