The Coach’s Pulse — Craig Berube on 2–1 Shootout Loss to Canadiens | Toronto Sports Pulse
THE COACH’S PULSE
Craig Berube — Post-Game Breakdown After 2–1 Shootout Loss to Canadiens
Berube reflects on a strong start, turnover-heavy second period, missed chances, a struggling power play, and Dennis Hildeby’s performance in the Leafs’ 2–1 shootout loss to Montreal.
On How He Assessed the Game
“Good first period. I thought we came out with the right mindset, did some good things. Second period we turned pucks over — that’s basically what it boiled down to. We put ourselves in three-quarter ice. Montreal owned that period because of turnovers, in my opinion. Third period was a pretty good period overall. We probably missed the net 15 times tonight at least. Good opportunities too — we’ve got to hit the net on those chances. And the power play has to come through for us and it didn’t. I thought our goaltending was good and we got a point out of it.”
On the Power Play’s Struggles
“That’s a good question. Right now when I watch it, they’re unsure of themselves a little bit. That power play in the second period, we moved it well and didn’t take a shot. The shots are there and we’re not taking them. Then when we do shoot, it’s probably the wrong time. They’re not feeling too good about themselves out there. They’re not seeing it right now. We’ve got to work through it — that’s all you can do. We’ve got to work through it and try to create some chemistry here.”
On the Power Play Being Surprising Given the Talent
“It is. I thought Cowan on the power play made some good plays and did some good things on it. He was pretty good again tonight.”
On the Response After a Tough Second Period
“Yeah, we responded in the third and played a much better period. We played behind them more and got to our game. We had some opportunities there with some plays and situations, but we can’t miss the net on grade-A chances. We just shot ourselves in the foot there.”
On Dennis Hildeby’s Performance
“Good. He was really good, I thought. Solid. He did the job for us, made some real good saves, so I was happy. Good to see that from him.”
On Preparing for the Shootout
“We always look at our lineup and who we’ve got. We haven’t been in a lot of shootouts — even going back to last year, we won in overtime a lot, so we didn’t get many shootouts. We’ve got numbers and all that stuff you look into a little bit, but at that point shootouts are a crapshoot a lot of times.”
Pulse Takeaway
Toronto banked a strong first period and pushed back in the third, but a turnover-heavy second and missed looks on “grade-A” chances left the door open for Montreal.
With Berube estimating the Leafs missed the net around 15 times and a power play still searching for confidence and chemistry, the details loomed large in a rivalry game
decided in the shootout. The bright spot was Dennis Hildeby, who delivered a solid performance in goal, but the message from the bench was clear: clean up the turnovers,
hit the net, and get the man advantage back to being a difference-maker.
