Craig Berube addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals, which dropped the team’s record to 22-13-2.
On where the game got away from the team:
There were probably three mistakes that we made in the game, and they went in our net.
We played a pretty hard game with a lot of opportunities. We didn’t finish.
At the end, in the third period, it is 3-2. We won the draw, didn’t get it out, and then took a penalty. It was in our net.
On the first goal, we get the puck, we have it on our tape, and it’s out of our zone on a faceoff. We turn it over, and it is in our net.
We made a few mistakes, and they capitalized on them. We didn’t execute on our chances well enough.
On Matt Murray’s performance in net (27 saves on 31 shots):
Well, I am sure he wants a couple back, but he hasn’t played a ton of hockey. He battled. He fought.
That’s about it.
On whether William Nylander made the right play to leave the zone prior to the Nic Dowd goal:
It is a read. If we have possession, we want to blow out of our zone there and catch them. He does it very well. He has gotten breakaways from it and is putting a team in a tough situation.
For me, that whole shift started in the neutral zone, where we had an opportunity to get a puck deep for a line change. We don’t, and now they are back in our zone. We get the puck again. There were probably two or three opportunities where we didn’t get the puck out. And then it is in our net.
Those are the mistakes that cost us tonight.
On how Alex Ovechkin’s presence in the game changes the gameplan:
It doesn’t really change for us. When he is playing, we have to do a good job on him. I thought we did, for the most part.
On Bobby McMann’s recent form:
He is playing well. He is skating hard, forechecking hard, and going to the net hard. He is getting rewarded with some goals. His game has been really good.
On Matthew Knies’ recent performances:
Since he has come back, he is not quite at the level he was at. We need to get him back there.
The effort is there, but there are little things he can do better and clean up. We have to get him back to the level he was at before he was out.
John Tavares: “We have to be a little bit more consistent throughout the 60 minutes, especially against good hockey teams”
Tavares: We did a lot of good things, no doubt, and could’ve won the hockey game. But looking at it from the bigger picture, I think we have a little bit more.
I think we can be a little more consistent. We’ve been a little more on the wrong side of it in the last four or five games. It was a good effort [in Detroit], and there were more good things today, but we have to be a little bit more consistent throughout the 60 minutes, especially against good hockey teams, to be able to build our game and put ourselves in good positions to have leads, control the game, and get the result that we want.
Our execution can be a little bit better, and our pace can be a little bit better. It is a long year. It is a grind. We have to continue to work through it.
