Craig Berube addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 7-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens, which improved the team’s record to 29-16-2.
On the 3-0 hole the team put itself in after 20 minutes:
Just win more battles. We watched. They skated. We didn’t win any puck battles. We exposed the middle of the ice in the first period.
I mean, all three goals were preventable. We were just a little bit loose. Again, it is about winning battles.
On the team’s comeback effort:
They were resilient. They are. They did a good job of managing the game from that point on, I thought. They got one, got momentum, and then got two. We weren’t trying to open it up or anything like that. Just stick with it.
Our goalie was excellent and had to be. Montreal was playing well. They got a lot good players, and Wollsy had to be good.
On Bobby McMann scoring with Matthew Knies’ stick:
Maybe he should switch.
Bobby had a great game. I thought he skated. Like a lot of guys, after the first period, it was a totally different team on our side. Bobby was skating tonight.
That is his strength: his ability to skate and shoot pucks. He was solid tonight for us. Good to see.
On swapping Pontus Hlmberg into the center spot next to William Nylander over Max Domi:
I just like Holmberg’s game, even going back to the Jersey game, with the way he is skating with the puck and hanging onto pucks.
I loved Willy tonight. He was going. He was on his toes from the get-go, trying to make a difference. I made the switch.
On the Leafs coming back from 3-0 down vs. Montreal for the first time since 1969:
Been a long time since it happened. It is great, though. It is a great rivalry. We all know that.
We talked about it. In my opinion, it wasn’t just another game. It was a big game for both teams.
Montreal has been playing extremely well. It showed in the first period, but we got our feet underneath us, and started playing the right way doing the right things.
It was a great comeback win from the guys. Our goaltender led the way, in my opinion.
On Joseph Woll’s side-to-side diving saves late in the third period:
He did some diving. A little (Grant) Fuhr action, which is good to see. He had a lot of effort in net tonight, which was important.
On Woll’s handling of the increased workload:
It is more games than he has normally played in a row. He is standing tall and doing a good job for us in all areas. He played the puck well tonight and battled in net, which he had to.
There was a lot of action around the net tonight. This team does a lot of good things offensively. He had to be sharp.
On Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s multi-point game:
He was shooting the puck tonight from the get-go. He was just missing the net a little bit on some shots. We had traffic there.
He stayed with it and got rewarded. It was good to see our D shooting pucks, getting things to the net, and keeping pucks alive in the offensive zone.
We have to continue to do that.
