After Saturday’s practice, head coach Craig Berube discussed the upcoming series against the Florida Panthers, Scott Laughton thriving in his role, and Bobby McMann’s series against the Senators.
Did the big block by Scott Laughton at the end of Game 6 take a bite out of him, or was there any fallout from it in terms of an injury scare?
Berube: No, he is all good. It is the type of thing you need in the playoffs. Great block by him, putting his body on the line. That’s what you need.
Has Laughton started to show his value in these playoffs?
Berube: Definitely. Even before the playoffs, he was. He got comfortable and built some chemistry. Sometimes, it takes some time when you make trades. It doesn’t happen overnight. With other people, it does, but you never know.
He is definitely a big part of our success and our team.
When there are three former Panthers who were a part of the Stanley Cup win on your current roster — Steven Lorentz, Anthony Stolarz, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson — is there any sort of intelligence advantage they can offer you?
Berube: Yeah, I’ve had discussions with them. There are things you might not know. It is more mindset stuff for me with those guys, having been in the locker room and a part of the organization and team. I have discussions with them.
What does this opportunity persent for Stolarz, carrying the load as the starting goalie and getting a chance to face his former team in the playoffs?
Berube: Well, he has deserved it. He showed it down the stretch and in the first round. He has earned that.
Brady Tkachuk was saying he is going to chat with Matthew Tkachuk to discuss the Leafs. Is there any advantage that can be gained from a conversation like that, in terms of the right buttons to push?
Berube: Well, if you allow someone to push your buttons, maybe. Don’t allow them to push your buttons. That is the way I look at it. You can control what you want to control. Emotion plays a big part in the game, and discipline and composure. We got through one round, and it has to be elevated now.
With Bennett, Tkachuk, and Marchand, they are going to try to push those buttons. Do you have to escalate the approach of turning the other cheek?
Berube: You have to play hard between the whistles. That is what you have to focus on.
Now, you have to protect our net and do your job. There are always different scenarios that come up, but we want to play hard between the whistles. We have to be physical. We have to match their physicality. And we have to be disciplined.
What is your sense of the group coming off of the series win over Ottawa, now that you turn the page?
Berube: Business-like. Ready to go for the second period. That is my feel.
It seemed like the team was satisfied after advancing past Ottawa but didn’t go too crazy in terms of celebrating the win. How does the team decide what the right level of celebration is after closing out a series?
Berube: I don’t know about satisfied. We were happy we won. You are supposed to be happy. It is not easy to win a series. The guys should be happy they won the series, but now, we are moving on.
We have to get prepared for Florida. It is probably going to be an even harder series. As I said, it is business. We won the series. We are past it now. We are starting to focus on Florida.
What is the key to handling Florida’s vaunted forecheck?
Berube: They are a very good forechecking team. That is their M.O. They are going to put pucks in deep and go to work with numbers. They’re very aggressive.
Obviously, we are going to take about a gameplan, but it is really going to boil down to five guys working to help out against their forecheck, getting numbers in there, and battling pucks out. That is really what it boils down to. It is going to be a battle and a grind.
You can talk all of the Xs and Os you want, and there are things we are going to try to do to nullify their forecheck, but in the end, they are going to forecheck. They are going to get there. You have to battle it out, have numbers in there, and work together. It is going to be a grind.
With home ice, you have the advantage of last change. Is Paul Maurice a line matcher, or is he more about throwing out his four lines and letting them play?
Berube: Paul matches. Barkov is their guy. They have a luxury of having the Lundell line. Lundell is an exceptional two-way centerman in the NHL. Paul is not going to be worried or shy about getting him out against our guys.
There is the anticpation that this series will be nastier than the Senators one. How confident are you that your group is ready for that type of battle?
Berube: I am very comfortable. I don’t feel worried about it at all. Our team is ready for it. They understand it. That is the playoffs. It is going to be hard. There are going to be hits. You have to get up and play. You have to be disciplined. I am going to keep talking about it.
Bobby McMann was one true rookie on your team in the playoffs. How did you think he managed the first round?
Berube: I think his game got better as it went along. Maybe his best game was the final game.
With his speed, his skating, and his physicality, he was just on things. He is an exceptional skater and has great speed. He is starting to understand, in my mind, the power forward game — the physicality, the banging bodies, the creating space for people. He is really starting to grasp that, in my opinion, or he did throghout the series.
