After practice on Monday, head coach Craig Berube discussed the team’s power-play success and discipline in Game 1, the areas for improvement in Game 2, and the status of goaltender Anthony Stolarz after he was absent from practice.
Practice Lines – Apr. 21
Lines at Leafs practice
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Holmberg – Tavares – Nylander
McMann – Domi – Robertson
Lorentz – Laughton – Jarnkrok
Kampf, PaciorettyMcCabe – Tanev
Rielly – Carlo
Benoit – Ekman-Larsson
Mermis – Myers
HakanpääWoll
Akhtyamov@TSN_Sports— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) April 21, 2025
What made you decide to run with Pontus Holmberg in the spot beside John Tavares?
Berube: It is just an adjustment during the game with matchups more than anything. That’s all it was.
What was the message to Max Domi when you made the adjustment of shifting him down to the other line?
Berube: Not much. Max is good about playing wherever — wing or center, and he has done both all season. It is an easy switch for him. It is not that much of a conversation, to be honest with you. He is good with whatever we need.
Where can the improvements come from for the team at five-on-five in Game 2?
Berube: We have to protect the slot better than we did. In the second period, they had a few opportunities after the power plays where we were a little loose. We have to do a better job there.
Power plays and penalty kills take some of the rhythm out of the game, but I’d like to see us do a little more hunting and hounding on the forecheck.
Ridly Greig cross-checked John Tavares high and ran into Anthony Stolarz. What is the key to dealing with him? The players are going to want to retaliate against him.
Berube: Are they?
No, you’re right. That is part of playoff hockey. That stuff is going to happen. You have to be disciplined as best you can. We are going to keep preaching it. The league and referees will take care of that stuff. Do your job.
How hard is it to not retaliate in those situations in your experience?
Berube: I didn’t do a very good job of it most of the time (as a player). It can be difficult, for sure. It is human nature, but we did a good job of it last night, for the most part.
Yeah, things break out at the end of the game, but you just have to keep preaching it. They have to understand how important it is. We have to play hard between the whistles, keep being physical, and make it difficult for them as best we can. That has to be our mentality here. Stay composed.
I get it, but in the end, you are not really going to help the team. There are always situations that arise. We’ll deal with them as we go along.
You told the media to call the league after the game, but they chose not to suspend Ridly Greig.
Berube: I didn’t think they would. The league and referees will take care of that stuff.
And it must be a point of emphasis to capitalize on the power play as well.
Berube: That’s true. We have to do a good job there, and we did in the last game. When we have the opportunity to make them pay, we have to keep trying to do it. It’s important.
Does the referee supervisor still meet with the two coaches before the series?
Berube: Yeah, they meet with the guys. They meet with the coaches or GMs. We talked to them. They’re great. You can talk to them anytime, and they are always good about it. They’re watching. They understand. They’re doing the best they can to monitor all of this stuff.
In your day, did you ever see a referee need a piece of paper to remind them of all of the penalties?
Berube: I didn’t know they carried a notepad in their back pocket. There was a lot going on there. Again, we just have to stay disciplined and composed here. Go initiate and play hard.
That is a big part of it: playing physically. I thought we were physical early in the game. We have to keep doing that.
Are you seeing signs that Scott Laughton is finding his footing on the team?
Berube: It has been coming for a bit. I think he feels really comfortable with the linemates he is playing with. He has found some chemistry there. I’ve really liked his game lately, and I thought that line was really good for us last night.
With the checking and the hounding, they are a difficult line to play against. They forecheck well. They are on top of people. There is no room out there when they are playing, and they are responsible defensively. They’ve been a good line for us for a little while now.
Matthew Knies finished with the highest time on ice of any Leafs skater. What about him gave you the confidence to send him out there so much?
Berube: With the power play, the penalty kill, and five-on-five play, the minutes were a little high for him last night. I probably have to do a better job of pulling that back a bit. I used him at the end of the game more than I probably wanted to.
The power-play goals came quickly off faceoffs. Is that a sign of confidence or a good pre-scout?
Berube: I think it is a little bit of both. We are looking to attack right away. It is a good mentality, in my opinion. In the playoffs, it’s about pucks to the net. That is what you have to think about.
Early on in the game, at five-on-five, we missed the net too much on some opportunities where we could’ve had more sustained pressure. We just missed the net, and then it is out of the zone right away instead of hitting the net and getting people to the net to create chaos and more offensive-zone time and opportunities.
The power play did a good job of getting it to the net right away. You have Knies and Tavares, who have been doing a great job there all year. We just have to keep doing the same thing.
What is the word on Anthony Stolarz?
Berube: Nothing. Rest. He’s all good.
Was Stolarz always going to take this practice day off?
Berube: It is something we talk to the goalies about in terms of what they feel they need and want to do.
