Craig Berube addressed the media after his team’s 4-3 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres, which improved the Maple Leafs’ record to 4-4-1.
On the team’s performance:
A gritty win is how I kind of look at it. The difference is that we were better at defending the odd-man rushes and things like that. I think we gave up two in the first period, and they capitalized on one of them. But we were above things all night.
It was a low-event game, but when you play teams like this, you have to make sure you aren’t giving up those freebies.
I thought our guys played hard. I liked the jam they played with tonight. We were physical, and there were a couple of nice hits. A little bit pissed off.
On why the team was pissed off:
We’ve lost three in a row. That is probably why.
If I lost three in a row when I was playing, I guarantee I would’ve gotten into two fights.
On Jake McCabe throwing a big hit late in the first period with the team down 1-0:
We all have to chip in in that department. That is part of our team. I thought we were a physical, hard, forechecking team last year. We have to get back to it.
MCCABE FLATTENS TUCH!
🔊 @Bonsie1951 @Jim_Ralph pic.twitter.com/TfWkKjym1z
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) October 25, 2025
On his appreciation for John Tavares, who scored goal #499 with the OT game-winner:
You don’t really need to coach him. He is so professional and dedicated. He loves the Leafs. He loves the team. He just comes to work every night. He never takes a night off or a day off. He is always doing his thing, working, and is highly competitive out there. It is great to be able to coach a guy like that.
On Nick Robertson re-entering the lineup on the top line and scoring the 1-1 goal:
Willy was out, so I put Robby up there. He did a good job. He added energy to that line with his speed. He ended up scoring a big goal for us, which is great. He did a good job coming in.
On Cayden Primeau’s performance in net:
Happy for him. He hadn’t played in a while, but he was working hard in practice. He is a hard-working kid. He did a nice job in there tonight and gave us a chance to win the game.
On William Nylander taking warmups but not being able to play:
He just wasn’t able to do the things he could do out there, for the most part. That was really it. We’re hoping he’ll be fine for the next game. We’ll see.
On the difficulty of the division based on the early stages of the season:
It is a tough division. We saw Montreal and the Senators take a step last year. To me, Buffalo has taken a step. Detroit has taken a step. Florida is Florida, and Tampa is Tampa.
It is a battle, for sure. It’s a very good division.
