Craig Berube addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins, which dropped the team’s record to 4-4-1.
On the team’s performance:
It was a tight game. We battled back and got the tying goal, so it is a good hard-fought point. There are things we can do better, and there were a couple of mistakes in the second period that we have to clean up.
On Anthony Stolarz’s performance in goal:
He was great. They came hard in the first. I thought we didn’t break. We weathered the storm, and he made some good saves.
On how close the team is to playing the Berube style:
They’re close. I thought we got back to checking a lot better tonight. We were hard around our net and hard in the battles. Offensively, we can do more. We have a lot of offensive zone time in these games, and we have to get better at creating a little more with that time.
We have to get more shots from the top through — that is one thing — and look to shoot a little quicker. There are times when, in the third period, all of our forwards are jammed at the net. We couldn’t get through. We needed to pop off and create some separation a little bit more in the offensive zone.
On the new defense pairings (Rielly – OEL / McCabe – Tanev / Benoit – Myers):
They were fine for me tonight. It is always tough for a left-handed shot to go on the right side, but I didn’t think they were bad. They were pretty solid.
On the decision to move Morgan Rielly back to the top power-play unit:
Just seeing if something would happen, you know? We had the 5-on-3, and there were two empty nets where we just didn’t put them in. But it’ll come. I am confident in this team. They will get it going on the power play.
On Philippe Myers’ season debut:
I thought he had some big hits. He was pretty physical killing penalties. Simple player. He was fine.
On the team’s overtime period and how much stock he puts into overtime results:
Well, I thought we controlled it. We had the puck pretty much. It was a tough play on Auston. We have to support him a little bit more on that play. We left him alone there. It was a mistake by everybody out there.
We had two good looks in overtime.
It is important. The points are important, right? We want to be a good overtime team and a good three-on-three team because they are critical points.
