Head coach Craig Berube addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series.
On where the game got away from the team:
We got out of the first period. They came hard in the first 10 or 11 minutes. We weathered that storm. I thought we started to come. We took a penalty and killed it off.
Going into the second, it was more of the same, like the first. We just didn’t handle the pressure that they came with tonight.
It obviously wasn’t good enough.
On how he explains the team’s two performances in Game 5 and Game 7 on home ice:
I don’t know. That is the frustrating part. I thought we put ourselves in a good spot in both games coming home. We just had disappointing games, for sure.
We go down there, win a Game 6, and play extremely well. It is frustrating. I don’t have an answer for that question.
On the team getting booed — and seeing jerseys tossed on the ice — in two consecutive home playoff games, and if the composition of the team needs to change to improve the “fire” in the group:
I think this team has fire. I can’t explain right now — nor do I want to — Game 5 and Game 7 at home.
There are obviously things we have to look at and talk about as an organization.
On the most disappointing part of the series:
Game 5 and Game 7 at home. We did a great job of fighting for home ice. We had a good home record all year. To me, that is the most disappointing part of the series.
On the team falling in its competitiveness level from Game 6 to Game 7:
Coming off that Game 6, we come home for Game 7 and are feeling really good. But they were the better team tonight. They were the more desperate team tonight. They were the more aggressive team tonight. That is what I take out of the game.
You win a Game 6, and that is great. You come home, and you have to have a level of desperation and determination. I didn’t feel we had it.
On the frustration on the bench, as shown by Berube and Marner:
Frustration sets in when you don’t get everybody on board doing the right things and playing together as a team. That is what happens.
You can’t go into a game like tonight and have anybody not at their best. It doesn’t mean fancy plays or skilled plays. You are at your best when you are highly competitive, are winning your battles, and playing with desperation to win a hockey game. We didn’t do that tonight. That is why the result is the result.
On how much the baggage of the team’s playoff history might play a role in the result, and if the moment is too big for the team:
I don’t think the moment is too big for them. We went into Ottawa and won Game 6 to win a series. We went into Florida and won a Game 6 to force a Game 7. The moment is not too big.
For me, it is all between the ears. It is a mindset. These guys are capable of doing it. You just have to execute it, and we didn’t execute it. We didn’t execute it in Game 5. We didn’t execute it in Game 7.
I don’t have an answer for why, but that is the bottom line.
