Craig Berube addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers, which clinched a playoff spot and improved the team’s record to 46-25-4.
On the team’s performance:
It was a battle, right?
I thought the first period was really good. We came out and did what we wanted to do. In the second period, they made a push, and we hung out and battled through that. In the third period, we were better. We were on our toes playing. We ended up getting a lead and closing the game out.
Overall, it is the type of hockey we knew we had to play against Florida. There is no room. You have to fight for space. There is a lot of stuff around your net. It is about winning battles — puck battles — constantly, chipping pucks out, and chipping them in. There is just no room.
I think our team stuck with it and did a good job of that.
On the team surviving the second period and then its best players coming up with big moments in the third:
They came through in the third, for sure. They stepped up their game in the third.
That is an important period, the second, because it is going to happen. Teams are going to make pushes, and you have to get through it without getting scarred too much. I thought we did that in the second period.
The goalie made saves, but for me, when I watch it live — and I’ll watch it again — the net front was key. We were hard around our net. We didn’t give up the second and third chances. Yeah, they got a chance, but they were right at the net with numbers and competed there. That is important.
On his personal satisfaction with the team clinching a playoff spot:
It is great. I have talked before about it. Being able to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs is a real thrill and opportunity for me. As I have said a number of times, I love working with the players we have here, the staff, and the organization in general.
It is hard to make the playoffs. It is tight. It is a tough league.
Our team has played really consistently this year and has done a really good job of changing their style of play, playing a certain way, and adapting to it over time. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a while. They’ve learned to figure it out in the different areas of the game with scoring and things like that.
It has been a pleasure.
On Mitch Marner’s efforts to close out the win at the end of the game and the buy-in from his stars in this department:
They are not just there to score. They are there to play 200 feet of hockey, whether it is penalty killing, protecting a lead, or just playing good defense. You need that from everybody. Everybody. It doesn’t matter who it is. Guys need to be bought into sacrificing to play the other side of the puck.
On John Tavares’ hot streak:
For me to be able to coach him, you love a player like that. You love the professionalism and mindset day in and day out. He is almost like having another coach around when you’re asking him things and what his thoughts are.
When I watch John, it is the preparation daily. It never changes. He is always in his routine. It allows him to be successful at a later age in life.
On Anthony Stolarz’s temperament:
He is a very personable guy off the ice. Great guy who is good to talk to.
On the ice, he is pretty intense. I have heard him a few times, and he is not too happy about things, haha. That’s fine; he is fiery, and you like that fire.
On the late “curveball” of Aleksander Barkov missing the game:
It is not a curveball. He is a great player who was not playing tonight. We all know how good he is. It was an opportunity for us to take advantage of him not playing, but at the same time, I don’t look at it when a star player is not playing on the other side.
We missed our star for a number of games this year and won hockey games. Players step up. I knew that. There was no reason to discuss it and take a different approach to the game because he wasn’t playing.
On the importance of finishing first in the division:
It is not the be-all and end-all. Look, we are just going to be focused on Columbus on Saturday night. That is what I am focused on. I am not really looking further than that. We have to work to get the two points on Saturday night, take it from there, and worry about the next game.
First place in the division would be great, but that is a ways away yet.
On Jake McCabe’s status after he left the game late:
No updates right now on injuries. Sorry, guys. I haven’t even talked to anybody yet.
