Craig Berube addressed the media after his team’s 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, which improved the Maple Leafs’ record to 16-15-5.
On the confusion around who has taken over the power play coaching, after mixed messages in the earlier press conferences between him and Brad Treliving:
The PP stuff — I know that Brad is talking about [Derek Lalonde] having it, but what I meant is that the staff is looking at everything together. Is he running the meetings? Yes. We will have to make a decision on what we are going to do on the power play.
Just so that is clear. I don’t want you to think we are not talking about this stuff beforehand.
On how much he paid attention to Brad Treliving’s comments earlier in the day:
I wasn’t really in there, so I didn’t hear what he said.
On the biggest takeaways from the win:
I thought our game got better after the first. The second was really good. We scored tonight. That is the difference. We scored goals tonight.
It was good to see Willy do what he did tonight, and the other guys. Nice goal from Max. I mean, we scored goals tonight.
On the difference in William Nylander’s play tonight:
He was taking pucks to the net, getting open, and driving it. Again, that line makes a lot of plays, which is good to see.
On the importance of grabbing a win before the break:
Well, it is a boost. We’re going to have a better Christmas, I guess, if you like Christmas.
On Max Domi busting his 23-game goal-scoring slump:
It was great. He did a lot of good things tonight. He had other opportunities, and they didn’t go in. He probably could’ve shot a little more, too, on some of his plays, but I thought he did a great job tonight and brought a lot to the line.
On Chris Tanev’s first game back in the lineup:
Better as the game went on, and more comfortable. The first period was whatever, but then we got him back with McCabe. There is a lot of familiarity there, and I thought they were good.
On the team’s goaltending of late:
It’s been solid. Can’t complain about the goaltending. We put Hildeby in a tough spot for a while there, but he did a hell of a job. Woll has come back after his injury and done a good job for us.
On the emotional boost of finally getting a win and scoring a bunch of goals:
I think the boost has been coming for a bit. Our play has been better with the puck. We just haven’t capitalized. Tonight, we capitalized. We just have to keep doing what we are doing and keep banging away at it.
There are always things you have to work on and fix, but it is getting the confidence back and the puck play back. It’s been a lot better.
