Ahead of Tuesday’s game in Boston, Craig Berube discussed the defensive adjustments after a leaky weekend, his team’s buy-in defensively, and the decision not to make a change on the blue line against the Bruins.
How did you go about resetting the group after the losses over the weekend? What are the key areas of emphasis defensively right now?
Berube: We got together yesterday and had a good team meeting in Boston here. We looked at some film and talked. We’re trying to get it going in the right direction again.
Defensively, we put ourselves in some tough spots with the turnovers. It really puts stress on everybody with the turnovers. Our puck management wasn’t very good in the last two games, and mostly in the last game.
Defensively, it is the turnovers, for sure, but we can also be firmer and harder in our own zone and win more of those battles. Carolina came out with the puck too much. We had numbers in there, and they came out with the puck. Now, we’re extended in our own zone a little bit more.
Turnovers cost us the game, though, in my opinion.
How can the forwards help the defense out more defensively?
Berube: Don’t turn pucks over.
It is not just on the forwards or the D. It is on everybody. For me, the forwards getting caught in the offensive zone with three guys and giving up odd-man rushes is not good for our D or goalies. That is one area that we can be better at, for sure, and we have been talking about it a lot this year. We have to get back to where we are not giving up odd-man rushes, for sure.
In zone, it is the same as the D. It is about killing plays, being firmer and harder, blocking shots, and exiting when you get the puck back — not turning it over so that we’re extended in our own zone. It’s the wall plays for the forwards, and things like that.
Do you think the buy-in is there from the group defensively?
Berube: I do. I think the buy-in is there. I think we do it well at times. The consistency is not there. We’re scoring a lot of goals, and sometimes, we think about scoring more than we think about our play without the puck.
It is about getting to our identity and sticking to it. We can’t be trying to make all of these plays with the high-ice turnovers in the offensive zone and turnovers at the blue line. That kills your team. It kills your momentum. It kills everything.
Is that what has led to the uptick in odd-man rushes this season? You didn’t give up a lot of them last season.
Berube: It is a combination of reads at times. Early on in the season, for some of our D, there were some tough reads on pinching. The other one for me is a lack of urgency from our forwards at times when it comes to getting back and beating people back up the ice. That is a big part of it.
How do you view Anthony Stolarz’s game and the workload he’s faced?
Berube: I think Anthony’s game has a lot to do with our game, too. There are games this year where he has been solid, but we are giving up chances that we did not give up last year. To me, it is a big difference.
We have to tighten that up and give up the shots from certain areas of the ice. Our goalies will have more success. It is a little bit of a combination there.
How seriously did you consider making a personnel change after the tough outings defensively over the weekend?
Berube: I talked to Brad (Treliving) about call-ups. We are at where we are at right now. We have Dakota Mermis here on defense, but putting Mermis in there, to me — we don’t have a lefty-righty balance on the pairs as it is, and that is going to make it even worse. You’re putting someone on the right side, where we have McCabe now, which is new for him. He played the left side all of last year, and OEL has played the right at times and the left at times. It creates a little bit of a problem.
What are you hoping to see with the switch in the top six with Nick Robertson and William Nylander?
Berube: Not a lot is different; we just spread it out a little bit. I do like Willy with Matthews, but at the same time, it is nice to have a little bit more of a threat on two lines. That was the reasoning.
Morning Skate Lines – Nov. 11
Lines at Leafs skate in Boston
Knies – Matthews – Robertson
McMann – Tavares – Nylander
Joshua – Roy – Maccelli
Lorentz – Domi – Blais
JarnkrokRielly – Carlo
Benoit – McCabe
Ekman-Larsson – Myers
MermisStolarz starts
Hildeby @TSN_Sports— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 11, 2025
