Craig Berube addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders, which dropped the team’s record to 21-11-2.
On where the game got away from the team:
You are on a back-to-back. There is a fresh team waiting for you that hasn’t played in a while. We give up two 2-on-1s in the first five minutes of the game. That is how I see it. It’s not very smart.
On whether the manner in which the team lost was disappointing:
A little, yeah. Early on in the period, they were just better than us. They were on their toes better. We weren’t very smart.
I get that they’re rested and are going to be a bit quicker, but we have to play smarter than that. We can’t give them freebies. We gave them two freebies right away and got behind. It wasn’t a good game.
On David Kampf’s performance up the lineup:
I thought he was fine. He created a goal and worked hard. He was competitive. I didn’t mind his game.
On William Nylander’s drive:
He has been a good player for a long time, hasn’t he? I thought Willy was skating early in the game and had good jump.
He wants the puck. He wants to make things happen with it. He’s motivated.
On how important it is that Nylander is in this kind of form during Matthews’ absence:
It is not just Willy. We need everybody to step up. We didn’t have enough guys step up tonight and do the job.
On mixing up the defense pairings in the last couple of games:
A lot of times, D pairs are changed in game because of what is going on in the game. You mix them up sometimes, just like lines.
McCabe and Tanev have been a stalemate shutdown pair, and they have been very good. Mo and OEL have played a lot together. Sometimes, you mix them up. Things aren’t going right, and you have to move things around to see if you can get something going.
On whether there is a further update on Auston Matthews and whether he’s concerned the injury will nag Matthews as long as it did the first time:
No (update) right now, no.
I am not a doctor. I can’t answer the question. I am hoping, with the break coming up, he can get some relief, feel better, get ready to go, and recharge. That is really all I can say about it.
