Maple Leafs Full Media Availability | Post Game vs. Carolina Hurricanes | November 09, 2025

Maple Leafs Full Media Availability | Post Game vs. Carolina Hurricanes | November 09, 2025

Austin what allowed Carolina to kind of tilt things in their favor in the third? I mean I think it’s just kind of been the same uh you know same stuff just details and execution. I thought um you know we were fortunate to have a lead after two. I mean they you know if it wasn’t for Beast um you know three four breakaways there that we gave up. he made big saves and um just details I didn’t think uh we won enough puck battles tonight and um just kind of the repetitive stuff that um you know we just can’t seem to get right or we can’t seem to um you know have like a consistency over a full 60 minutes I mean there’s going to be times where there’s momentum shifts and stuff like that but to kind of uh break that momentum as quickly as possible and and get back on the right side of things um you we’re not doing that quick enough. You say stuff is getting repeated. How do you flip that script as a as a group? I mean, I think part of it’s a mindset. I think part of it is just execution and uh willingness all throughout. Um winning battles, doing the little things, the little details that make a big difference throughout 60 minutes. How can the forwards help out the D uh just in general breakouts moving forward here? Yeah, I mean communication is a big piece. I think um you know we we tend to um you know want to play quick and I think there’s opportunity sometimes to you know get the puck uh in the middle of the ice some more and that’s just communication. That’s just uh knowing where guys are going to be being more predictable on breakout so we can get the puck and play fast and and get on their end of the ice as quickly as possible. You kind of alluded to this but Dennis faced 46 shots in this game. What was your take away from performance? He was great. Um you know he was great. I think uh you know a team like like this one we played tonight. I mean they’re a team that likes to get pucks tonight. They shoot from everywhere. Um but like I said, I mean breakaways, oddman rushes. Uh he came up big on some on some saves and kept us in the game. Special night tonight, you know, with Hall of Fame and Matt being here. Matt Matt was saying that he thinks it would be fantastic. That’s the word he used if you broke his record. I know you’re not a individual stats guy, but to have a support like a Leaf legend like that, what’s that mean? Yeah, it means a lot. I mean, he’s obviously um you know, guys like him and Daryl, Wendell, Douggee, um Darcy, guys like that that have kind of paved the way and um you know, for guys like us to come come along, it means a lot. Um obviously, it’s kind of hard to think about that or you know, put stuff like that in perspective. It’s not really the main focus right now on especially after a game like tonight where um you know you uh have the lead going in the last you know 10 15 minutes of the third and then you get it up. So it’s kind of you know hard to think about that but obviously means a lot coming from a guy like that with the moment Joe before the game just that’s got to be a special one as well for you. Super special. Um you know you can’t say enough amazing things about him. He’s um one of one um kind of guy and uh honored to, you know, play with him, call him a friend, and to see somebody like that uh get honored tonight. Uh it’s it’s super special and to be in the presence of a lot of legends, men and women there. Um this is always a a cool game to be a part of. What made the the Hurricanes tough out here tonight? Well, they’re a good hockey team and they uh they put a lot of pressure on you. So, um you know, at times we did some really good things, uh earned opportunities and were able to give ourselves a lead and then, you know, our game just for whatever reason becomes really immature and we don’t manage the game very well. How do you break that cycle? Uh I mean, we have a lot of very good hockey players. We have a very veteran team. So, um, just the decision to to do it shift after shift. How frustrated how frustrated are you feeling with kind of where things are at? Yeah, I mean, you know, we we we gained some traction and then we, you know, shoot ourselves in the foot again and um just put ourselves in a tough spot. So, there’s a ton of hockey left to be played. So, we just got to obviously pick ourselves back up and, you know, get ready for the next opportunity and and uh build from there. This was such this was such a good defensive team last year. When you see the amount of breakaways that are given up and stuff like that, I mean, how concerning is that? Yeah, I mean, you’re not going to win consistently doing that. So, um like Chief says, it’s 50/50. So we uh you know it’s it’s obviously uh clearly an area we have to clean up just uh the plays off transition and um you know opportunities like that that really give their team life and momentum and really stress our our goalending and obviously um then having to chase the game. How disappointing is that that it’s happened at home and you guys had a a fairly good home schedule? Absolutely. You want to take advantage of the benefits of being at home and being a good home team. So um yeah, obviously uh not the way we would have liked to have gone to this point in the season, but um all we can do is move forward and a lot of hockey left to be played. So uh obviously have to regroup here, stick together and and find our way through it. Dennis faced 46 shots in this game. What was your take away from his performance tonight? Yeah, I mean, he’s the reason why we why we had a chance to win the hockey game. So, um thought he was uh was phenomenal. Heck of a job on uh on the PK, especially in the third period, too. Um tight hockey game. So, he he was great. Second night in a row, uh Willie had a chance to be the hero last night with those posts and tonight with the missed wide open net. Is that tough to just get over something like that? just speaking from your own experience. I mean, you know, I I obviously uh his ability and his talent, he puts the puck in the net a lot. The odd time it doesn’t go in. I think I think we have the type of hockey team and certainly at this level to move past it and keep playing. And um you just play your game for 60 minutes, whether you get good breaks or bad breaks. Uh more often than not, you put yourselves in good position to win games. And maybe sometimes they don’t fall your way, but um you know, we we should be, you know, mentally strong and our game should be strong to just continue us forward. Faced a lot of rubber tonight, Dennis, how do you describe how you felt in tonight’s game? Uh yeah, like you said, it threw a lot of bucks uh to the net, which uh can get tough, but it’s yeah uh created some chances, but a couple couple mistakes there from uh from me there on the third especially, which kind of messed up our two lead there. But yeah, what what were what were the mistakes? Yeah, just forgot to stop the pot there. Yeah. Yeah, I know. A lot of shots uh which was fun. Overall, how did you feel about your performance? I know the mistakes you look at, but the way you went about it. tough to to analyze uh shortly after. But yeah, I mean a lot of lot of good stuff, but couple bad stuff to which kind of cost us there. So yeah, I don’t know. It’s tough to analyze. A chunk of those shots coming from breakaways and giveaways. How difficult was that to deal with? Uh Yeah, I mean a breakway is harder than a shot from the blue line usually, so it’s it’s definitely like hard chance, but had some luck there with the post and and the bar a couple of times. So, uh yeah. What’s going through your mind when you know the breakaways are just coming one after another after another? Um I mean it happens like you just got try and stop them. It’s not going to look like that entire game. It’s just for that certain moment that things aren’t going that well. So, and uh yeah, we we had some fortunate bounces though with with the bar and post like I said. Uh fortunately, yeah. What was it like to be part of the Hall of Fame game ceremony early in the game? Like to be part of a night like this? It was fun. I saw some some great legends there. So, uh wasn’t really too sure about where I was supposed to stand. Didn’t I didn’t really read that much before. Yeah, I know. Ton of fun. Just suck you couldn’t give them give them a win today. What was it like seeing Matt Sun being there? Obviously, it’s always a pleasure. I I’ve run into him before. I mean, it’s it’s quite a Yeah, big legend in Sweden and in Toronto obviously. So, it’s always always fun seeing him for sure. William, uh, how did you assess the the team here tonight? Yeah, I mean, I had a couple chance to score, made a couple, you know, sloppy, uh, mistakes giving them offense, two stupid penalties. I feel like that’s kind of how the game was for us. And I mean, got to be better. How do you guys break the cycle of inconsistency? You know, you put together good stretches and then the turnovers and the mistakes come back. Yeah, I mean I think we just got to, you know, focus on that aspect and, you know, really bear down on that and I think just comes down to simplifying and, you know, not trying to make another play. Dennis faced 46 shots in this game. What was your take away from his performance? Yeah, he made uh huge saves. I mean, they had I don’t know how many breakaways they had in in the second. It felt like he uh you know, stood on his head. What was the mood like on the bench when those breakaways just kept coming? I mean, I was out there. I turned over one for one of them, but I mean, those uh our mistakes that, you know, shouldn’t happen and we know that as a team and that’s uh you know, we tighten that up. we uh you know don’t give them as many dangerous chances. So I mean it’s a simple thing that we need to clean up like I said before. Just got to focus more on that. How concerned are you? I know it’s still I guess relatively early 16 games in but how concerned are you with where things are at? Um you know we have been playing you know good and bad at certain points. I mean we just got to sharpen those things up and I think we’ll be we’ll be good. So not really worried. I mean, we can score. So, yeah, without the puck, we just got to be better. Before the game, I mean, Jumbo was there, Matt Sundine is there. Two guys that have been influential in your life. What was that like? Yeah, it was very special seeing them out there and um obviously happy for Jumbo. Uh big night him. A lot of great memories with him and obviously always great to see Matts. How hard is it to flush it when you miss a chance like get the one you had in the third there? Yeah, that’s what happens. John used the term immature to describe some of the mistakes that were made. What’s your take on this time? Could be immaturity, not a willingness to make the easy play. Turnover after turnover cost us the game tonight. You know, we didn’t check anybody tonight. We didn’t win any battles tonight. two games in a row. Break that cycle of the mistakes and the turnovers because you guys do have good stretches and then it just rolls over again. Well, for me it’s just a mindset. It’s um you know, if you want to be a good defensive team, you got to you got to check, you got to have good sticks, you got to be hard, you got to win battles, and you got to have good structure. And right now, you know, there’s not um it’s a mindset for me. We’re not we don’t have any of that right now. How do you change that? Well, we like I said, I just keep working at it. Like, you know, I mean, I I you know, my job as a coach is to get them back on track and that’s what I’m going to try to do. That’s what I’ve done and I’m going to keep banging away at it. And, you know, it’s all, you know, it’s what we can do. You you look at video, you talk, you know, we got to have discussions with players, with the team, um, and, you know, get back. We’re scoring enough goals every game to win games where we’re letting in too many goals. So, um, pretty much the season is we don’t, um, value the def the defensive side of the puck enough and there’s a number of things that go into that, but I’m not going to get into all that. We just don’t right now. We don’t value that. To assess a goalie, but what what do you see from Hill to be tonight? He only he made a lot of saves. I mean, we gave him what, three breakaways in the second period, maybe four. I don’t know. a lost count. You know, it has nothing to do with a goalie. On the offensive side, Neander basically has two games in a row on his stick last night against Boston with the post and uh crossbar today on the power play. Misses wide open. Do you say anything to or like how does he get over uh just the streak of bad luck like this? [Music] Well, I don’t know if I don’t think he has bad luck. I mean, he got two goals tonight. He’s been scoring pretty much regularly this year. Um, those things are they happen. That’s that’s just bad breaks at times and things like that, but that doesn’t necessarily cause hockey games. Yes. I mean, he could have tied the game up the other night and, you know, he missed this one tonight, but it’s all the other stuff that happens before that that that’s why we’re losing. What’s the disappointment of this happening at home? And you’ve had a pretty good Well, yeah, it’s disappointing. I’d say the last five games going into to Boston game, we were really trending in the right direction without the puck, doing a good job. You know, now our power play starts to click and we’re scoring like we are scoring. We’re scoring goals, but now we just went right off the rails the last two games defensively and it’s caused by, you know, puck play for sure. um costly turnovers and and just the you know the urgency that’s needed to um defend

Coach and players speaks with the media following the Leafs’ 5-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.

00:00 – Auston Matthews
03:07 – John Tavares
06:16 – Dennis Hildeby
09:21 – William Nylander
11:39 – Craig Berube

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