Jake McCabe | Post Game vs. Tampa Bay Lightning | December 08, 2025

stands out about the way you guys kind of settled down early on. You weren’t we weren’t settled from the getgo. Looked as though like you guys really found another way to kind of handle their pressure and then kind of roll with your own. Yeah, I thought we were we were poised all night. We thought we defended the middle of the ice well. I thought Dennis obviously uh made the some big saves when he had to and um as a full team effort up and down the lineup as far as defending goes and um defending and you know making strong plays at the lines and getting the forch check going. So it was good stuff. Can you say about the job D has done for you guys just this whole season coming in starting with number four on the depth chart now? Yeah, I think it goes back to even you know last year you got a couple games for us too and um he’s been around the fellas a lot this year with injuries and he’s just getting a little bit more comfortable and he’s great with the puck too. That’s one big thing I find with goalending is when they get more comfortable, you can see with their puck play, too. And just add another layer of confidence for him. Um, he’s been rock solid. Been putting some, you know, the other night comes in the third period and shuts the door as well. So, uh, yeah, it’s it’s good stuff. Defensively, the last 10 games or so, you guys have been much better than you were earlier in the season. What have you seen different in the last stretch? I think just a bit of a more commitment to, you know, owning the middle of the ice and um, back pressure and our gaps. you know, early on in the season, I felt like we were giving up way too many oddman rushes and um which put a lot of stress on us defense and goalending and uh put us behind the eightball a lot of nights. So, we’ve been doing a much better job of that and um you know, finding our game a little bit. What did you see in terms of the effort that Morgan put in to make his goal? Yeah, you know, that’s one of the best parts of Mo’s game is be able to get up the ice there and join the rush. um being that second layer of attack and uh you know the puck finds him there and just because he gets up and uh even the guy gets a little stick on him but he finds a way to get the back of the net and that’s a huge goal to to get the lead for us early tonight. No doubt it feels good to score lots of goals but I guess I wonder what a win like this does when those tight games come up the right way. Yeah, I think that’s what you you really need as a group and that’s when we’re at our best in this room. um you know, kind of having that playoff mentality of tight games and really hard checking. That’s when we’re at our best. And frankly, it creates a lot of offense for us, too, when we’re checking like that and getting all man rushes. I think we could have had a couple more tonight, honestly. So, um it was a good effort all around and trending in the right direction for sure. It was said that if you guys put a few wins together, you can change the complex of the standings in your division quite easily. You’ve done that. Yeah, this is as tight as I’ve seen the the East and the Atlantic in my time. Um, you know, we’re almost 30 games in here and I don’t know, six, eight points separates the top and the bottom. So, um, you know, nights like this are four point swing nights, right? So, um, it’s a big win for us and I think, uh, you know, we can’t get complacent. Like I said, we’ve we found our game a little bit. We need to keep growing and, uh, we were all talking about that road trip being a, you know, a key point for us and we answered the bell on that and now we need to continue the momentum here throughout this uh, this next couple games at home. How would you describe the level of chaos scramble in the last minute there. Um, yeah, six on five, you know, there’s uh all sorts of bounces and try to just protect your post lines and uh keep the puck out of the net. And, you know, we all we all did a pretty good job there of uh helping Dennis out.

Jake McCabe speaks with the media following the Leafs’ 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.

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5 comments

  5. I heard the fight and the hit listening Joe and Ralph on the radio.
    This may be a rhetorical question
    What was Jarnkrok waiting for with the empty net?
    Nothing fancy good game .

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