Craig Berube | Post Game @ Florida Panthers | December 02, 2025

Craig Berube | Post Game @ Florida Panthers | December 02, 2025

for the for the team. Good win. I mean, I thought that everybody contributed tonight. Goalie was good. Solid game all around. You know, checked hard, physical, a lot of good things tonight. So, it’s good to see. Scott Lton mentioned the pace of the game. Are have you noticing that you guys are playing a little bit faster? Yeah, we were. Tonight was uh probably I would say one of the fastest pace games we played all year. Um, I thought we just closed on people and checked and when we had pucks, we skated and attacked and our forward check was good tonight. So, pace was uh pace was uh really good tonight. What do you like about that uh Nick? Well, they’re just on it, you know, like they’re think, you know, Joshua and and McMahon are really been good on the walls in our zone and Wii does a great job being underneath and support and they get the puck and they when they go down in the offensive zone, whether it’s, you know, on an attack or they um have to forch check, they’re heavy. you know, they’re doing a good job with their sticks and they’re on people and then they they hang on the pucks and uh in the offensive zone and they’re getting to the net and doing the job. So, they’ve been really effective. How important is a third line like that? Very important. You know, I they take a lot of Dzone faceoffs. Um, you know, match them up against people at times, you know, on the road and things like that. But, you know, that big heavy line like that really sets the tone for our team. I think in the NHL today, that puck moving defenseman is is more important maybe than ever before. Yeah. To get a guy on waiverss and to have him come in and do the kind of things that Troy is doing for you now. Almost seems impossible and yet you’re getting it. Yeah. I mean, he’s playing with a ton of confidence right now. Like very composed. Um him and Mabe look like they got instant chemistry right now, which is great. And they move the puck. They’re moving the puck extremely well. And like talk about pace. Stature plays with pace out there. Like I mean he closes on people. He skates. He he gets up the ice. He’s doing a lot of good things. And he’s got I don’t didn’t know a ton about him, but I watch him on the blue line in the offensive zone and he’s he moves his feet extremely well and gets shots through. And when you saw him walk in to you the first time you looked at him, do you think Someone’s younger brother. Who? Someone’s younger brother. Oh, well, yeah. I mean, like I said, I didn’t know a ton about him. Obviously, I’ve seen him play in the NHL and things like that, but um you don’t know a guy until you really get him a lot of times. I think you watch people play and you watch other teams play. He’s on, you know, whatever. Until you get a guy, you don’t know the personalities. You know what he’s all about. But he, this guy’s highly focused hockey player. He um very um team oriented and um brings a lot of energy to our to our team and like I said brings a lot of pace to our team back there. How patient can you be Craig with the power the five forward alignment as they work kind of through the kinks here? What’s that? How patient can you be with that five forward look and the power play as they kind of work through things? I became unpatient quickly. Listen, I get it, you know, but the game is tight, so I I switched it up next power play. You know, I’m not going to put our team in that situation again. Yeah, it’s Listen, Power Plays, we’re they’re working through things. Like, it’s tough right now. It’s not great. And, you know, all we can do is keep working through things and hopefully something starts to really click and, you know, it starts to get going in the right direction. Like I said, I focus on percentages on a power play. A focus on how the power play helps us every in game, every game. You know, it’s not always about scoring. It’s about creating momentum at times, too. Yeah, you want to score on it and we need to start scoring on it, but at the same time, we just got to keep working away and find some chemistry with some guys and and get it clicking. How about Scott Lton tonight getting a goal and getting that off the back? Yeah. No, it was great that they they did a good job that shift. You know, it was a good forward check and a great play by Steve. We throw it to the net right away. Um, you know, and lots did a good job at the net. So, like I said, everybody contributed tonight. Everybody was engaged in the game.

Head Coach Craig Berube speaks with the media following the Leafs’ 5-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.

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