Head coach Craig Berube discussed the room for improvement offensively, the pressure on his core players to deliver in Game 6, and the history of the team’s struggles to close out playoff series.
As a coach, how do you go about getting the team regrouped after a couple of losses?
Berube: We’ll meet today and talk about things and what we can do better. I think we have been defending really well and doing a lot of good things, but offensively, we can do better.
The five-forward power play has had a lot of success, but would you consider putting a defenseman back there after a couple of shorthanded goals against in the last two games?
Berube: There are two plays on both of those. Those were really the only chances we had given up. I think we just have to do a better job in those situations. Now, it will be discussed. We will look at things.
What is your message to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner as they try to get back on track?
Berube: Stay with it. There are things we can do better offensively that we need to look at. We need to go and do them. They defended well and did a lot of good things in the game, but there is more there. It is my job to try to get them out of it, and it is their job.
We will discuss it as a team and go over it. Hopefully, we’ll be better.
How does your job or role change as a coach with the team now in this position?
Berube: I don’t know if it changes that much. My job is to try to get the best out of every player and the team to the best of my ability. That is what I try to do daily, whether it is now, game #30, or game #10. We are up 3-2 in the series, and we’ve gone in there and won a game in there already. We are capable of doing it. I have belief in this team.
How much are you contemplating lineup changes?
Berube: We are, for sure. We will talk and discuss it. If we decide to go that route, we will.
Whether you do or not, is it not on the core of the team to make it happen?
Berube: It is on everybody on the team. I get it. All I hear around here is, “Core, core, core. Core Four.” But it is on everybody on the team. We are a team. It is on the whole team, not just four guys.
What are you specifically hoping to see from the team in terms of offensive improvements?
Berube: I’d rather not discuss that in the media, if that is okay.
What was your takeaway from the impact of the fourth line of Steven Lorentz, Scott Laughton, and Calle Jarnkrok in Game 5?
Berube: They work and hound as a unit. That is why they have success. That is the bottom line with the line. It is constant pressure, checking, and work. That is why they have success. That is really the point I’ll make on that.
Would you like to see the fourth line’s intensity rub off on some of the other lines?
Berube: I think we can have that mentality more as a team, for sure. You want to score goals in the playoffs. You want offense. You need it, and you have to have that work mentality and that checking mentality.
Checking is not just playing defense. Checking is offense. You check for your chances. You get on the inside. Your work and hound. It creates turnovers off the other team. It creates chaos for the other team. We can do a better job of it as a team.
How do you get more of that out of your group?
Berube: We show video. We talk about it. We discuss it. It is up to the players to go do it.
You’ve tried to make sure to keep the noise out since you arrived as coach. Is it more difficult with this team situation?
Berube: It gets to the point where there is more noise and a lot of talk about the past around here. That is all fine. That is part of it all. The only pressure they have is to their own teammates.
Do you look back at the past from what the team has gone through to see if there are lessons to learn?
Berube: Nope. That is not going to help me or them.
A lot of players have rotated through the second line left wing. Are you still searching for answers there?
Berube: Some of it is situational stuff. I think they have been okay. They have been pretty good at times, but again, we will discuss changes, whether it is a new player coming in or maybe some line switches a little bit.
I don’t want to change too much. I think there has been a lot of good. At the same time, we have to find ways to put the puck in the net a little more.
When you led the series the way the team did, was there a tendency to look past the opponent?
Berube: No. I don’t think our team ever looked past (the Senators). Game 4 is a good hockey game. We could’ve come out on top. It could’ve been over, but it didn’t work out.
I don’t think the team came out last night and was looking past them. We had a real good first period — a lot of energy and a lot of good stuff, but in the end, the results are what matter, right?
What did you make of the boos around the arena despite the fact that the team is up 3-2 in the series?
Berube: Nothing. They pay good money to come watch. I’ve seen it wherever I have been. It is not any different here. It is the same anywhere. They want results.
You have had a lot of success on the road this season. What have you liked about the way the team has handled the road?
Berube: We have been a good road team all year. I think we are patient on the road and do things right with our puck play and our checking. We have been good at that over the season. We are going to need it tomorrow night.
