Ahead of Saturday’s game in Buffalo, head coach Craig Berube discussed Radko Gudas’ five-game suspension, Auston Matthews’ season-ending injury, and the continuation of a rollercoaster season in Toronto.
What was your reaction to the five-game suspension for Radko Gudas?
Berube: Looking at it, we lose our guy — our captain — for the year. I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like enough for me. But I am not in the position to make those calls. It is what it is.
For me, I’d say it is not enough. You lose your star player and captain for the year. The guy doing it is a repeat offender. It just doesn’t seem like enough.
Does the league do enough to protect its stars?
Berube: I am not going to get into all of that. I am not in a position to talk about that at this point.
They have a job to do. For the most part, they do a really good job. But we are obviously going to be upset about the suspension because it happened to our player, right? That’s how it works.
It is not for me to comment on it if they are doing enough to protect the star players in the league.
Do you think the response in the third, after the initial lack of response, could be a turning point for the group, as far as sticking up for each other?
Berube: Definitely. I’ve not seen that problem here. Is it a one-off, or whatever? Obviously, we want more at that time. We didn’t get it, but we did get the response we needed in the third period, which is good.
How difficult was it to hear the news about Auston Matthews’ injury?
Berube: It is always tough. You don’t like to see that happen to anybody. We’ll miss him.
What have your conversations been like with Auston after his season ended?
Berube: I reached out yesterday. It was pretty short. I will grab him at some point here and talk to him. I think he just needs to get his thoughts together. In a few days, we’ll chat.
How is the vibe in the room after the news?
Berube: It is tough to lose a guy like that for the year. We are not happy about it. Nobody is happy about it. But we have to move on and get ready to play. There is nothing we can do about it now. We have to get ready to play tonight.
It was a pretty wild season for Matthews, between the Olympics and this injury. How do you look back and assess Matthews’ 2025-26?
Berube: A rollercoaster. There were a lot of ups and downs throughout the season with the different things that went on. There was going to the Olympics, and then the White House… There was a lot of noise. It’s a lot of noise when I look at it all.
As a player and captain of the team, there is a lot going on, too, with the disappointment with where the team is. There are a number of things. At the same time, winning Olympic gold is obviously a great feat.
As I said — rollercoaster.
It’s been a rollercoaster for the whole team. Have you experienced a year quite like this?
Berube: It’s a season I’ll look back on and think, “We never got any traction or consistency that we were looking for throughout the season.” We did have some good runs, and then it stopped again. We just didn’t keep it going.
Again, it has been a rollercoaster season.
Do you look at the injuries as part of the equation?
Berube: Yeah, injuries, but everyone has injuries. You have to deal with it in this game. This year, there have been a lot of injuries throughout the league. We can’t look at it. It’s an excuse, almost.
Right from the get-go, with our goaltending situation and where it was at, we didn’t have that one-two punch for a long time. There were different things, but it is not the time to get into all of that.
What is the thinking behind giving Joseph Woll a bit of a run of starts?
Berube: Looking at his game, he has been sharp. I’ve liked his game. I just wanted to see him play some games in a row and see where he is at. It’s a good time to do that. We have back-to-back games, so Stolarz will be in there tomorrow.
What have you made of Steven Lorentz’s season?
Berube: I think he’s lost his confidence. It has been an ongoing thing this year with him. He has been a really good penalty killer for us, which is one area where he has done a good job. His five-on-five play, for me, is not aggressive enough. He is not playing with enough confidence out there for me.
The Sabres are in a good spot right now, and the city is excited. What will it be like in the building tonight? Can your team feed off it?
Berube: It is always a good vibe here. We have a lot of fans here, obviously, and they’re always exciting games — sometimes too exciting for me, haha.
Morning Skate Lines – Mar. 14
Leafs lines at skate
Maccelli – Tavares – Nylander
Knies – Domi – Cowan
Joshua – Groulx – Robertson
Pezzetta – Quillan – Jarnkrok
LorentzRielly – Carlo
McCabe – Ekman-Larsson
Benoit – Myers
StecherWoll
Stolarzat Sabres tonight@TSN_Sports
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 14, 2026
