Berube tells 'overthinking' Leafs to take a breath before facing elimination
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The Maple Leafs held a media availability at Ford Performance Centre on Thursday before flying to Florida.
In the immediate aftermath of Wednesday's disappointing defeat in Game 5, Leafs coach Craig Berube didn't have an answer for his team's poor performance.
"It's hard to explain it," he admitted following the Panthers 6-1 win.
A few hours later, before the Leafs departed for Florida, Berube had diagnosed the problem.
"We went out in the first period and just overthinking things and not playing," he said. "We didn't move our feet. We didn't compete. We were tentative in the game. We can't play like that."
The Leafs have a lot on their collective minds after seeing a two-game lead turn into a 3-2 deficit against the defending Stanley Cup champions. It was only last Friday that the Leafs were in overtime of Game 3 in Florida and just a shot away from a stranglehold lead.
Now, they will face elimination for the first time on Friday in Sunrise, Fla.
"You get in your head," Berube said. "You're worrying too much about the results and not focusing on the process. Like, that's where that comes from for me. And I've seen it before in playoffs, and I've coached it before in playoffs, so I know what they're going through."
This is also a familiar feeling for the core players. At times during this run of nine straight playoff appearances the team has seemed paralyzed in key moments. It's a big reason why the Leafs have won just two of 10 series with centre Auston Matthews, winger Mitch Marner, winger William Nylander and defenceman Morgan Rielly in the fold.
"You can dwell on all kinds of things, be upset about effort or whatever, but I believe that this team cares," Rielly said. "We're in a position now to go down there and win a very important game for our team."
Centre John Tavares joined the core in the 2018-19 season and since then the Leafs are 1-5 when hosting Game 5 in a playoff series.
Bad losses happen even in the playoffs. Getting humbled 6-1 at home hurts, but it's only one game.
"A loss is a loss," Berube stressed. "If we would’ve lost 2-1 and it was a close game, would it really matter today? We got beat. I've been in this situation before. You know, a loss is a loss. We're all going to be down and dejected, but we can't be. Today, we got to regroup. We got to get a different mindset going here, going into tomorrow's game, and be excited to go and win a game. That's what we've got to do. We've got to change the whole mindset here."
The 59-year-old bench boss, who led to the St. Louis Blues to their first ever Stanley Cup championship in 2019, is urging his players to unplug on Thursday.
"They need to stick together tonight as a team and take a breath and stop thinking about the game," Berube said. "Relax. We'll get thinking about the game the next day when it matters."
The Leafs overcame a poor Game 5 performance in the first round when they allowed the upstart Ottawa Senators to claw back from 0-3 down and force a Game 6. Berube was able to settle his team down and guide them to a series-clinching win in the nation's capital.
But this is a more daunting challenge now. The Leafs have lost three straight games to a formidable Florida team with championship pedigree.
The coach is hoping his players will find solace in the struggle.
"This is what guys play for and you have to enjoy it," Berube said. "Don't overthink the game."
The recipe for a response is simple.
"Competitiveness and execution, I think, is what it comes down to most nights, ultimately," said Rielly.
The Leafs did not lose four straight games during the regular season.
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Matthews, who is in his first season as captain, is still looking for his first goal of the series and was asked if the drought is frustrating.
"Honestly, I don't look at myself as a one-dimensional player," the three time Rocket Richard Trophy winner said. "If I'm not scoring, I'm trying to do all the other little things that make the team successful, that make myself successful, and just try to be an all-around complete player. So I'm going to continue to push and try to score, obviously, and keep shooting, but obviously all the other little details of my game, I want to do at a high level as well."
But the details were lacking in Game 5. Matthews lost a puck battle to Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, which led directly to Florida's opening goal by Aaron Ekblad.
"I don't think there's really any excuse or explanation," Matthews said of the team's performance. "The only thing we can do is regroup and reset. We've got to win a game to keep our season alive. I think there's confidence in this group, of course, because we've been able to push back and we've been able to bounce back all year. It's no different than now. Just looking in the mirror and all of us being better."
Is Matthews feeling the pressure to deliver after scoring just three goals in his last 21 playoff games?
"Everybody's got to look in the mirror," he said. "Myself included."
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Marner turned over the puck with a blind pass in the second period, which led to a Panthers rush and a goal by Jesper Boqvist who beat the Leafs winger to the net.
"Sloppy play," Marner said of the team's game. "Not hard enough working. Gave them way too many opportunities around our net."
Marner is a pending unrestricted free agent and was asked if he considered the fact that Wednesday may have been his final home game with his hometown team.
"No, no thoughts of that at all," he said. "We knew this was going to be a rollercoaster ride. You know it's not going to be easy. We've got to have the mindset now to go into Florida and take it shift by shift and win a hockey game."
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Fans rained boos on the ice as Wednesday's game progressed.
"It’s tough, but they have the right to do what they want to do," said Rielly, who is the longest-serving Leaf. "We need to improve and play better. We expect to have a team that is going to go out there and win and compete and, when that doesn't happen, everyone's upset."
Fans headed to the exits early.
"I don't think we gave them much reason to stick around," Matthews said.
Toronto's only goal on Wednesday came late in the third period.
"I mean, 6-1 in the playoffs or 6-0, I understand them," said winger William Nylander.
A couple Leafs sweaters were even thrown on the ice late in the game. What's Toronto native Chris Tanev thinking when he sees that?
"Play better."
Berube's message to Leafs Nation?
"Believe like our team believes," the coach said. "I think that's all you can do, and I get it. I do. They're fans. I mean, they pay good money to come see the game. They want to see results. And I've been around Philly for a long time, too. It was a lot of similar stuff. I mean, it's just part of the game. I'm not focused on the fans. I'm focused on our team."
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Anthony Stolarz worked out for about 30 minutes on the ice with the team's extra players on Thursday. But Berube said the injured goalie is not expected to join the team in Florida for Game 6.
Stolarz got hurt in Game 1 after taking an unpenalized forearm to the head from Panthers centre Sam Bennett. The team has not revealed any details on what the injury is or what the timeline is for Stolarz's return.
Joseph Woll is in line to make another start on Friday. He allowed five goals on 25 shots before being pulled in the third period of Game 5.
Sergei Bobrovsky, who has allowed just one goal in the last two games, is swinging the goaltending battle in Florida's favour.
"We got to do a better job of creating more high-danger shots, in my opinion, than we did last game," Berube said. "Now, I'm not saying don't shoot the puck, but shooting the puck and then getting to the inside for a next shot and a rebound and things like that. We have to do a better job of making life more miserable on their goalie. This guy's a good goalie. He's a first-save goalie. Like, he makes saves, and he's an effort goalie. We're going to have to out-compete the goalie."
The Leafs burned Bobrovsky for 13 goals in the first three games of the series.
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Tanev was asked what's the biggest thing that needs to improve.
"I'll take responsibility," the 35-year-old said. "I need to do better. If I'm a minus player, we're probably not going to win the game, so it's on me. I'll take responsibility for the game."
Tanev finished Game 5 with a minus-two mark, but both goals he was on the ice for came after the Leafs already trailed 3-0, including the fourth goal by Panthers defenceman Niko Mikkola, which came on a shot Woll usually stops.
"They executed their game plan to a tee and that's why they won the game," Tanev said.
The straight-talking defenceman leads the Leafs with a plus-three rating in the playoffs despite facing top lines in every game. He has an even rating in this second round series against the Panthers.
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It took longer than usual for the Leafs dressing room to open following the Game 5 loss. The players were having a frank discussion about what happened behind closed doors.
Who led the discussion?
"It's gonna stay in the room," Marner said.
"We'll keep it between us," Tanev added. "We need to be better."
Defenceman Brandon Carlo offered some insight on the message during Thursday's media availability.
"It’s small segments," Carlo said. "It’s going out for the first shift next game and focusing on the first five minutes. We don’t need to get too far ahead of ourselves and focus on two games. Just one game at a time, and that’s kind of what was discussed."
Carlo, who is a veteran of 83 playoff games, was acquired from the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline.
"This group, as a collective whole, is a very tight-knit group," Carlo said. "This is a special group as well. I have the utmost faith that these guys are ready to take the next step. I have a lot of belief in this group and that hasn’t changed one bit."
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Leafs lines in Game 5:
Knies - Matthews - Marner
Pacioretty - Tavares -Nylander
McMann - Domi - Robertson
Laughton - Kampf - Lorentz
McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Ekman-Larsson
Woll starts
Murray