Craig Berube addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 6-5 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, which improved the team’s record to 38-20-2.
On the wild game:
It is not how we wanted to draw it up, but it happens sometimes. We made a couple of mistakes and put ourselves in a little bit of a hole, but the guys stayed with it, climbed out of it, and found a way to get a win, which is great.
It is a little too high event of a game.
On Matthew Knies’ 5-4 buzzer-beating goal at the end of the second period:
You would never think that five seconds left in a period off a faceoff in our own zone would lead to a goal, but he did a good job. He jumped, used his speed, and scored the buzzer beater.
KNIES SCORES WITH 0.1 SECONDS LEFT ON THE CLOCK! (with @Bonsie1951 and @Jim_Ralph) pic.twitter.com/UDqR1asvMH
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) March 2, 2025
On Sidney Crosby’s performance:
He was really good tonight again. This guy is obviously a world-class player. He looked young out there to me. He is still playing at a high pace and playing the right way. He keeps driving. He is a great player.
On what the long road trips recently have done for the team:
I said on the road trip before the break that I thought it was a really important trip at that time to get on the road with the guys only. It is all hockey, right?
This is a similar trip. The guys are getting together on the road and being together — yelling together — a little bit more than being at home. We have been a good road team for quite a long time.
We just have to keep doing it. We have one game at home, and then we are back on the road.
On Auston Matthews surpassing Darryl Sittler on the all-time goals list:
Congratulations to him and his teammates. He is a great player and a great scorer. It was good to see him get one tonight. I know he has been snakebitten a bit, so it was nice. He had six shots on net. He is shooting, which is good.
Congrats to him. Great accomplishment.
On Max Domi busting his goal-scoring slump on his 30th birthday:
Max had some good jump today. He was excited. He had a lot of energy out there. It was good to see. It is a big goal by him, and I thought that line was good tonight
On whether the long goal slump was weighing on Domi:
I think it bothered him. It would bother any player. But he is a positive guy. He just stays with it, and he comes and plays.
He is not a guy who complains about it. He puts it on himself. He keeps things internal. He doesn’t express too much about it. He just keeps playing and working at it.
To me, since the break, he has played good hockey for us.
