Craig Berube addressed the media after his team’s 3-2 overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues, which improved the Maple Leafs’ record to 9-9-2.
On the team’s performance:
I thought we battled hard. The guys were competitive. I thought that our checking game was pretty good, for the most part, throughout the game. We managed the game well. I really liked our first period. There was a lot of good.
Woll was really good. We had a lot of guys in there who are new and haven’t played, but I thought they did a good job.
On the bizarre 1-0 St. Louis goal, where William Nylander swatted it into his own net:
I didn’t quite get the whole play, but… I mean, we put it in ourselves. It is what it is.
It happened, but the bench was good. There was good energy on the bench tonight — really good energy. It was good to hear the guys chatter after that. They just kept playing.
On the game-winning OT play by John Tavares and William Nylander:
I mentioned it to the team because that’s what [Tavares] is all about. That play there symbolizes John Tavares — three-on-one, keeps the puck alive, Morgan gets in there quickly and makes a play, and Willy does what he does.
"WHAT A PLAY! HOLY MACKINAW!"
NYLANDER OT WINNER vs Blues
🔊 @Bonsie1951 @Jim_Ralph pic.twitter.com/62SOmp4rnM
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) November 19, 2025
On Troy Stetcher’s Leafs debut:
Good game. Skated, moved the puck well, and was competitive. Those are all of the things that we knew of him.
I really liked his feet tonight. I thought he was aggressive and moved his feet really well.
On the growth in Jacob Quillan’s game:
From last year to this year, I saw a lot of growth in him in the game. He is confident and comfortable in his play. His speed is dangerous. He got behind their D a couple of times. Overall, he was a pretty good player for us tonight.
On the meaning of the win to end a five-game skid:
It is always nice to end the skid. When I look at the team and everything going on with the injuries, it could’ve been easy for our guys to say, “Well, we’re all banged up. We have nobody.” I didn’t get that from them at all. Our guys competed really hard tonight. I am proud of them for the way they competed and stuck together out there throughout the game.
On Matthew Knies’ injury situation, and when the injury happened:
Lower-body. This morning, I wasn’t sure if he was going to play or not, so I told Sammy to be ready. He came here tonight, Knies, and he couldn’t go.
He has had a lingering thing for a while. It got worse today.
On Sammy Blais’ injury in the game:
He took body contact, and then he was kind of coughing up blood and stuff. He had to go in.
