Head coach Craig Berube addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series.
On the team’s woeful performance:
In the first period, they out-skated us. They had the puck and won the races. We played slowly. They were fast and on us. They were hungrier. That’s the first period, and it sets the tone for the game.
On his explanation for the slow start to such a big game on home ice:
It is hard to explain it. We all have to be better, myself included. You can’t start the game that way. That is a big thing for me. It sets a tone for the game.
I don’t have an answer for you as to why. It’s sports. Things happen.
On whether it is more disappointing when the top players are leading the way with the mistakes and underperformance:
I don’t think it is more disappointing. I am not going to look at a certain group of players. It is everybody, myself included. There were mistakes — a lot of mistakes. For me, mistakes happen in games, but it is the way they happened tonight that is disappointing, more than anything.
We will be better next game, but it is disappointing for all of us here the way we came out in the first period and the way we played. That is the biggest thing I take out of the whole game.
On where the top line needs to improve in the offensive zone, and whether he will consider shaking up the lines for Game 6:
I juggled the lines a lot tonight. Did you see a different result? I don’t think lines have anything to do with it.
They are going against the Barkov line, for the most part. If you look at the matchup throughout the series, it is pretty tight. There is not going to be a lot of room out there. They have done a good job, up until tonight, against that line. That is part of their job.
I get it. We need our top guys to produce. But they have done a lot of good things up until this point. Tonight wasn’t a good game for anybody — anybody. All of us. It was not a good game.
On how the team can reset in time for Game 6, and how difficult it will be knowing the Panthers will come out just as hard in that game:
I don’t think they came any harder than they have, to be honest with you. I think we let them come tonight. We stood around and watched. You can’t do that.
We have responded in the past. I expect a response from our team. We will talk about things and make some adjustments that are needed. But it is more about a mindset going into this Game 6. It is not Xs and Os.
We know what they are doing. They played a simple game tonight, and they were excellent at it. Very good. They did exactly what they needed to do. Up until this point tonight, it has been a good series. Tonight, it was a tough game.
On whether he can dress Max Domi for Game 6 after all of the bad penalties:
It is definitely an issue we have to talk about, discuss, and figure out what we are going to do there.
On the message among the players after a loss this tough:
A lot of players talk in the room. I come in and address the team at some point, but we have a lot of leaders in this room and a lot of veteran players who have been around. They address things.
A lot of the time, I am not in there, and they’re talking. I come in and address the team at some point, and then we head out and play the period.
