Craig Berube, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube addressed the media after his team’s 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, which improved the Maple Leafs’ record to 13-11-3.
On a hard-earned win to end the road trip:
It is a tough building to come into, I’ll tell you that. They put a lot of stress on you with shot volume and things. We blocked some shots and battled. We scored on our chances when we got them.
On Joseph Woll’s status after leaving the game before the third period:
We’ll see tomorrow. Lower-body right now. We’ll see where he is at.
Right now, I can’t give you an answer. I really don’t know. Hopefully, he is not [serious]. But I really liked the way Beast came in and handled it.
On the amount of adversity in net so far this season:
This stuff happens. You just handle it. I told Beast he is going in. He did a great job for us.
On Dennis Hildeby’s ability to handle whatever has been thrown this way this season:
He has done a great job for us. I talked about it back in camp. He had a really good camp and came in prepared. It showed tonight, the preparation. It is not easy to come in there in that situation.
I love it when he is ripping those pucks around the wall. Everything is hard. He battled in the net and made some good saves for us in the third period.
On Matthew Knies’ big performance (1g,1a):
He has been really good this whole trip for me. That line was really good tonight. They carried it, in my opinion. I thought they did a good job — not just on the scoresheet, but all around.
I think Matthews had six blocks and did a great job killing penalties. But the whole team contributed. It was a team win.
It is not an easy place to come into and win. This is a very good team that puts a lot of stress on you, as I talked about, but I thought we handled it well.
On the team scoring the first goal of the game on the first shot four games in a row:
It puts you in a good spot right away, right? A little momentum.
That (Joshua-Roy-McMann) line, again, was very good.
On the difference in the team’s confidence from before the road trip to now:
When you look at it from the start of the trip to now, the confidence with the puck is in a way better spot, more than anything.
We talked about puck possession, making some more plays, wanting the puck a little bit more, and working for each other. I think they’ve done a good job of grabbing that and going with it.
It is just from showing video, talking about it, and working on it in practice a little bit more than we have.
On the importance of carrying over the momentum of the last three wins onto home ice on Saturday vs. Montreal:
It is important. After a road trip, you come home and get a day off. We have to get back at it again against a big rival in Montreal.
You have to understand that when you get home, there are things going on with your families and all of that stuff — and that is important — but take what we did on the road and bring it home.
Urgency is everything in that game.
Game Highlights: Maple Leafs 5 vs. Hurricanes 1