Craig Berube addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, which improved the team’s record to 27-13-2.
On the team yet again finding a way to win:
Again, our third period was our best period. I thought we started the game off fine, and then they kind of flipped that period. We didn’t get any shots on net. We missed the net.
I thought they were better than us in the first — a little more compete, and they were quicker than us.
We got our feet underneath us in the second period and started to come. The third period was our best period.
On the team’s start to the game:
I thought we were going early. We were playing the right way. We were just missing the net.
The power play set us back. The two power plays we had were not good. Obviously, it got good, and it is good they recovered. But the power play kind of hurt our momentum in the first period.
On shifting to a five-forward top power-play unit to start the second period:
Just changing it up to see if we could get a spark going. It worked.
On Joseph Woll’s 30-save performance:
He has been solid. He was very good tonight, and he had to be. He made some big saves for us. Our goaltending has been solid. It’s important.
On Matthew Knies’ continued emergence offensively:
Very fearless. Goes hard to the net. Skates hard.
He is hard to handle. That’s the way I look at it. He challenges defensemen with his speed and skill. He is heavy. He gets in there, and he is hard to handle.
On Auston Matthews’ performance and PP goal:
It was a big goal, obviously, on the power play. It was a nice little give-and-go with him and Mitch. I liked where he scored it: in the inside at the net, which was good.
Overall, he was a good player tonight. He worked and skated. He did some good things and drove the pace of play for us.
On the team’s close-out effort at 6-on-5:
I didn’t like the one seam play we gave up. Other than that, I thought it was pretty good.
With the goalie out and the penalty, I thought we did a good job there.
On Connor Dewar’s impact down the lineup:
Energy. Compete. Hard work.
He is a motor out there. He doesn’t stop. He gives you everything he’s got every shift.
Big fight for us tonight. We didn’t respond well enough to it, but he has been a good player for us.
