Maple Leafs Full Media Availability | Post Game at Buffalo Sabres | October 24, 2025

the team’s performance today, Oliver. Uh thought the the first period was all right. Um and the start of of the second uh but then something happened there that yeah, just the rush game kind of took over a little bit and and uh seemed like they capitalized on it. Um but in the third again, we we came out and and pushed for it and and had some good looks uh right before they scored on the power play, our power play. Um, but overall I thought we did some some good stuff. Um, and some stuff that we uh still have to to work on and clean up obviously. How do how do you think the Decore did without Morgan and Chris? Yeah, I thought uh Merms and and my play good. Uh, it’s not easy to to come in like that. Uh, and then, uh, no, shovel the D pairs around a little bit, but I thought, uh, for the most part, um, we look good. Um, but got to find a way to to keep it out of our net. It’s got to be a hard one, right, for two guys to come in. And that style of game looked like it was a little running gun. River hockey for these guys to adjust is has got to be a challenge. Yeah. But at the same time, I we talked about it and and we said before the game that we wanted to to play our game and and not getting dragged into their game and and I thought we kind of got away from that a little bit in the in the second like I said. Um but um yeah, we got to keep pushing uh keep uh getting better. Um it’s a new game tomorrow, so it’s um take the good uh with us and and uh yeah, build build on it uh for tomorrow’s game. Is it too easy to point to the second period or is that just just the way it’s been happening where things maybe get away on you? No, I I think obviously we we got to find a way to to simplify it a little bit or find a way to I mean just defend a little bit uh more and like I said, I think keeping the puck out of our net and and I thought we did that the first half of that period. Uh so that was a step in the right direction, but at the same time we got to do that for for the whole period and then going into to the third. It’s it’s hard to to be behind and and and push and and uh um yeah, we got to be uh comfortable having the lead and and uh we know that going back to last year that we’re a really good team and we have the lead. So kind of finding our our way back to that. Lander has been pretty durable over his career. What’s your kind of sense of concern when he’s unable to to finish tonight? Yeah, I mean obviously we want to have him out there. Uh so I hope it’s all right. Never like to see a teammate go down, but what does the opportunity to run the top power play unit mean to you? Uh yeah, uh obviously we want Mo out on the ice and and u yeah hopefully he’s back soon and and yeah, I mean for me it’s just stepping in and and trying to do the best I can to to help the team out like I’ve said so many times. Uh but obviously it’s it’s nice to get a look there and uh yeah um a little bit different obviously. Dakota gets his first uh what sort of impact do you think he can make as he gets more and more comfortable with this group? Yeah, I thought I thought he had a really uh really good third there getting on the for check and and that kind of paid off on on the goal. Uh I thought that line uh uh skating good and and for checking and and that’s how we have to play uh not just uh stacking that line but I thought he had a really good uh good game. Takeaway I guess for this one from you was discipline about tonight’s result. Uh I feel like the overall effort was there um for most of the game. It’s just a couple of lapses ended up costing us in the end. Pretty emphatic celebration there. What does it mean to you to get on the board here with your new team? Yeah, I mean it means a lot. Uh, you know, yeah, just uh I guess more of a relief and um yeah, nice to get one. Why do you say that? Why why relieve? Do you feel like it should have come earlier? I mean, no, it’s just give and take in this game, right? It doesn’t owe you anything. So, I wouldn’t say that. Just uh you know, you’re with a new team and you know, you want to make an impact every night. And I’ve uh haven’t had my best start to the season. So, it just it was nice to get one. Where do you feel like you’re at now, Dakota, in terms of the adjustment process? I mean, trending in the right direction, I’d say. Obviously, long way to go. Um, but, uh, yeah, just got to keep working. First of this rivalry in this building. Can kind of feel like a derby kind of thing. What was it like tonight? Yeah, it was a great atmosphere. It was fun to to be a part of. Only ever seen it uh on TV before, so yeah, that was a good atmosphere to to be a part of. What’s been the been the biggest challenge for you adjusting do you think? Um I think just the start of the season in general uh getting going. Um and just you know finding a finding a way to once again make an impact every night. Um you know the chemistry will obviously come with with the team and um you know that’s what we’re striving for every day. What’s it like playing with East? Good. He’s a he’s a great player. Young player, a lot of energy. um try to make it as easy as possible for him and um you know help him out uh help him out when we can but uh great player to play with. William unable to finish he’s off to a pretty good start here. Like what’s your concern when when Eler can’t finish the game? Uh yeah, I I don’t know. I’ll have to uh we’ll have to see see about that. you disc um you know I think the disappointing thing is I thought we competed really hard and did a lot of good things but there’s just too many you know mistakes going the other way and um too many oddman rushes against and they feed off transition so you know you get caught and they make you pay. Um I think that’s the most frustrating part just cuz you know I thought we really played a hard game tonight. I thought we did a lot of really good things. Um, you know, I thought we were rolling four lines just competing, you know, at a higher level than the level that we need to compete to win games consist consistently and um, you know, I think that’s just the frustrating part for sure. What did you like about the line before William had to leave? Like, how did you feel you guys were operating? Yeah, I thought we were good. I thought we competed really hard tonight. Generated some good chances. Um, you know, two easy guys to play with. I thought, uh, a lot of good things. I thought all four lines competed really hard tonight. Um, you know, but yeah, obviously first uh game together, I thought we had some good chemistry. When you’re in the little skid, what have you learned is the key to getting out of it, getting on the right track. Again, I think just putting the work um in front of everything else. I mean, I think the when you work and compete, um you know, like like we did for most of this game tonight, um you know, good things are going to going to happen. You’re going to get out of these little skids and you’re going to win hockey games. Um, so if you clean up the little mistakes, um, you know, that cost you and cost you pucks in the back of your net and and play the way and compete the way that we did tonight, I think, um, you know, we’ll be happy with the result most of the time. Given the changes that took place over the offseason and just given the injuries and people in and out of the lineup, this team still maybe searching for itself eight games, nine games into the season. Um, yeah, I would say so. I mean, I think it’s never ideal when you lose guys to injury and especially key guys and so, you know, you got guys coming in that haven’t really played or, you know, are coming up um very short notice. So, um in the end, it’s you know, guys got to pick each other up, encourage each other, and uh do what you can and fill those those spots and fill those roles. Um, but I definitely think uh um you know, we’re still kind of finding trying to find our game, but like I said, when you know, we compete and play hard like we did tonight. I think we’re going to be happy with the result most most nights out of uh most of the nights. So, um just got to stick with it. Outside of everything, you guys feel like you’re getting closer tonight. I mean, like that chance to go. Yeah, definitely. I thought um you know we had good looks there towards the end and uh going into the third I think there was confidence in our room that if we just get one um you know we we’re going to have an opportunity to get another and um you know we definitely had our opportunity. So um sometimes that’s how the game goes. You know you get a really great good grade a look on one end and then um it’s coming back down uh the other end and and they capitalize. So um like I said we we’re not going to hang our heads in here. We’re just going to continue to pick each other up, uh, focus on that process that we had for most of the game tonight, clean up some of the little things that, um, you know, make a big difference throughout 60 minutes, but um, you know, get back to work tomorrow. We got word earlier today, Joseph’s coming back to join you guys. What’s that mean to the group? It means a lot. Uh, it’s going to be great to have him back. Obviously, um, he’s a big part of our team, so very happy to hear that. Uh, yeah, just I thought, um, you know, the way we came out, I thought we played with a lot of pace tonight. Uh, physicality. I mean, you look at the uh the special teams being able to uh you know, get one there in the uh in the first and then, you know, you look at that five on three, guys are sacrificing their bodies and um you know, blocking shots. I don’t even know if they had a a shot on the five on three. So, um you know, I thought, you know, we played hard and uh it was a uh you know, a step up from from the last few games. So, did it feel a little bit loose, like a little bit of pond hockey in there at various points? It looked like it was pretty wild. Uh yeah, we know that they uh you know, they’re a team that likes to uh play off in the play off in the rush. or do you like to get up? So, uh, you know, they had chances, we had chances. Um, you know, it just comes down to, you know, Al made, uh, you know, one more big save to me at the end of there. Yeah. I’m just curious like how did you feel in a game like this? I mean, you feel good. You know, you uh, you know, you’re getting pucks, you’re moving around. So, uh, you know, it’s just one of those games and, uh, you know, for me just, uh, you know, just trying to track the puck. You know, a couple that, uh, you know, they’re hitting the late guys and whatnot. So, for me, it’s just battling and, um, you know, just trying to take as much, uh, much ice as possible and just fight to, uh, see the release. In your experience, what’s the key to digging out of a little skid like this that you guys are in right now? Uh, just keep working. I mean, it’s uh, you know, it’s an 82 game season. Like I said, I thought um, you know, compared to the last couple games, this game was uh, you know, a step uh, you can definitely tell the intensity was a step up for us. So, um, you know, the great thing is we get to go back tomorrow. We get to play him right back. So, right back in our own barn and um, you know, we’re looking forward to that. Joseph W is coming back. We we know your reaction to that and and have you been in touch with him at all through this process? Uh, no. I haven’t really uh spoke too much to him. I’m just kind of giving him his space. But uh, you know, at the end of the day, he’s a huge part of our team. You know, he’s a he’s a great human being. He’s uh, you know, somebody who who’s been around this group a long time and, um, you know, somebody who, you know, I uh, you know, I’m friends with uh, you know, very very closely. So, uh, you know, just to get him back, I think, uh, you know, for us could be could be a huge spark, could be, you know, uh, give us uh, you know, a little energy and, uh, you know, just seeing his face around the room, I think is going to be uh, you know, it’s going to be exciting and great for us. Elander’s been a pretty durable guy over his career. How concerning is it that he wasn’t able to finish tonight? Uh yeah, I mean uh you know, you look at the way he played tonight. He played he played awesome. You know, he’s up and down the ice checking and uh you know, getting that uh that goal and um you know, he’s been uh an integral part of our team so far this year. You know, his uh his numbers, uh you know, backed that up. So, I think for us, uh you know, hopefully he’s okay and uh you know, he’s back out there tomorrow with us. On a night where it feels or at least sounds like there was a lot of effort there, but didn’t go your way. Yeah, I mean it’s Yeah, obviously just the loss, right? I mean, I love the effort tonight. I thought a lot of good things. Competed extremely hard. Um, you know, we the back end’s banged up, but guys played hard. I thought competed hard. We They outscored us. That’s really the bottom line. We had lots of good opportunities to uh put more in the net. We just couldn’t get it done. What did you like about Matthews, Knander, McMahon, first look at them together? Yeah, they just looked really good. They were quick. Um, supported each other really well, strong on pucks, you know, a lot of ozone time, you know, a lot of good things from that line. That style of game, is that a hard one when you got new bodies coming in and that just that openness, is that a trickier one or is that not effective? It can be for sure. Um, but like you know, for me tonight, we played more of our identity, our game, the way we want to play it. Now, there’s always things you clean up, right? um keeping the puck out of our net. You know, there’s some there some things there that um we can do better job, but overall like I thought this game here showed me um the speed of our team when we play direct, the compete, the heaviness, you know, just tons of shots going towards the cage, um puck recoveries, things like that. You’re short penalty killers, but you have a five on three for 15. to say about your clear? Well, they did a great job. I thought there were some great blocks and that’s what you need. Five on three. They’re going to shoot pucks and um some great blocks and those guys did a really good job. How’s William kind of committed to that, wasn’t it, tonight? Oh, for sure. He had I think he had, you know, I don’t know, five or six blocks tonight in the game. How’s William? Um we’ll see tomorrow. Could he possibly play tomorrow? Could he possibly play? Maybe. Yeah, we’ll see. Got to see him. I got to see tomorrow. What does it mean that Joseph F’s rejoining? Yeah, it’s great. We’re We’re so happy to have him back. Um, you know, look, really looking forward to it. Yeah, it’s awesome. You’ve leaned heavily obviously on Storms early on. Like what was your sense of of him tonight? Um, you know, I don’t know. I mean, you know, I’ I’d want to wait till I talk to him first, but um it’s a lot for him that he’s we leaned on him heavy here and um it’s a lot of game, a lot of hockey played. So, um you know, I’m sure he’s sure he’s tired a little bit. I know you like you said you like the what the team showed today. Is there still some searching, you know, given all the moving parts of the map and just for for what this team is? mean like the new people coming in and stuff like that. People and bodies in and out and all that stuff is like it’s tough to identify exactly what you have. Yeah, I know. But that’s that’s part of the game too, right? There’s bodies in and out all year. A lot of times there’s injuries and other things that go on, but um I think our new guys that um we got, they’re starting to to really come around and show why we went and got him. one of those guys, Dakota, obviously. Where do you feel like he’s at? Where you see him coming on? Uh, his game’s gotten better and better. Uh, the last two or three games, I think his game is coming to what we expect of him. And that goal is classic, you know, goal that he’s going to score. But to me, that line, I thought that line had a lot of ozone time. They’re heavy on pucks. Um, you know, they they they shot a lot of pucks and attempts at the net. They just didn’t get there a lot of times, you know. So, it’s just one of those things where blocks or miss the net, whatever it was. But, um, they they I thought they did a good job.

Players and Coach address the media following the Leafs’ 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

00:00 – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
03:25 – Dakota Joshua
05:27 – Auston Matthews
08:43 – Anthony Stolarz
11:07 – Craig Berube

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29 comments

  2. Each game more pitiful than the last. Each effort weaker, each individual found more and more lacking.

    Small children know how to play a second period with a long change. There is no excuse for professionals not to be able to do their jobs.

  8. The Leafs organization is a perpetual FAILURE of epic proportions. An entire decade wasted and now comes the decade of mediocrity and hearing the players making up BS excuses and yapping up cliches of false hope. No grit, no will, no real effort.

  11. I don't think Stolarz likes Nylander…lol When he was asked he was saying so far he has been good…so far..lol You can always tell when guys kind of have issues with each other. He mentioned oh yeah he was checking tonight too…lol You know Nylander is 2nd in NHL with points and I think 1st in Assists. He has more assists then Marner.

  18. All of these issues could have been fixed last offseason. Treliving LIED to the fanbase saying there will be BIG changes and he only made LITTLE ones. Treliving also LIED about acquiring a top 6 forward in the offseason. This front office has NO common sense. I hope they miss the playoffs this year. It would be in the teams best interest. Then those 2 clowns will be FIRED!!!!!!!!!!

  21. That's 6 years in a row the Leafs have been sub-par in October. I don't get it. They are NHL pros, yet except for about 3 games of the 8 games they've played, their D-zone coverage has been nothing short of inadequate. 4 times tonight guys were in all alone on Lyon & scored just once. Maccelli misses the Buffalo net that was 1/3 wide open, from only 4 feet out after putting an outstanding move on Lyon. How the hell can you miss the net from that close? Domi has proven beyond any doubt that, after 9 years in the NHL, he has no clue how to play D in his own zone. He was 100% to blame on the 4th goal, out of position, way high in the D-zone. Just utterly clueless.

    BTW, to all the idiots who can't grasp what a 'no move' clause is, this is the team you've got for the next 3 years. There's no 'blowing it up' unless Matthews, Nylander, Rielly or Tanev decide to waive their 'no move' clauses. Tavares also has a 'no move' for the first 2 years of his extremely team friendly 4 year extension. They will figure it out. They always have.

  26. Can’t blame the coach again, this team just doesn’t have what it takes to win on a consistent basis, as a lifelong Leaf fan I’m utterly disgusted with the excuses..

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