Craig Berube addressed the media after his team’s 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders, which dropped the Leafs’ record to 32-33-14.
On the team’s play after a lopsided first period (outshot 24-3):
We knew they were going to come. They came hard in the first and shot everything at the net. We didn’t recover pucks and make a play to get out of there, so we got hemmed in a little bit too much.
I thought we settled in. We scored a power-play goal and got ourselves back in the game. And then we got into penalty trouble. That’s really the bottom line.
I didn’t like the 5-on-3 call at all. I think it’s weak. But that is the way it goes. It’s an unfortunate bounce on that goal.
Overall, we had 60 shot attempts or so tonight. 15 of them hit the net. That’s really a lot of the story, for me.
On goaltender Artur Akhtyamov’s 39-save performance:
He was good. In the first period, he saw a lot of action. We knew, coming into the first period, that they were going to come hard, and they did. I thought he really stood his ground and held us in there. He had a good game, I thought, overall.
On Luke Haymes’ NHL debut (one assist, one shot, two hits, +1, 12:47 TOI):
He was good, too. He had an opportunity to score and hit the post. He got an assist. I was happy with his play tonight, too. He handled himself well.
On Easton Cowan’s strong production of late (five points in his last five games):
He just works, more than anything. He’s a very intelligent player, but he puts work in. He’s a worker.
I like to say “work before skill” a lot of the time. I think he has kind of grabbed that side of things.
Easton works and skates. He gets rewarded.
On whether there will be more opportunities for up-and-comers to play before the season is through:
I do believe so. We’ll look at getting one or two other guys in there, for sure.
On the injury situations for Anthony Stolarz, Dakota Joshua, and Brandon Carlo:
I don’t have an update on [Anthony Stolarz’s] imaging. It is not happening until tomorrow.
Dakota Joshua will be out for a bit. I doubt he’ll be back this year.
We’ll see on Carlo and Stolarz tomorrow.
On the reason for Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s misconduct in the third:
After the 5-on-3 call, he smashed his stick on the boards, and they gave him a 10.
On Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer tying the NHL rookie defense scoring record with 23 goals:
He’s an elite player. I don’t know if I’ve seen too many guys with that ability — the skating ability — he has. The way he can cut back, work his edges, and his release on his shot is elite. He’s an elite player at 18 years old. He is a good one, and he is going to be a great player for a long time.
