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The Toronto Maple Leafs had the Ottawa Senators on the brink of elimination. They held a 3-0 series lead over Ottawa. And for the most part, they were clearly the better team in this series. Unfortunately, the Maple Leafs have been unable to end the series. Ahead of Game 6, though, head coach Craig Berube isn't worried.
The Toronto bench boss has been around the block before. He won a Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues as an interim coach in 2019. He led St. Louis to other postseason runs following that triumph, as well. Berube knows the noise is louder in the postseason. However, he does not believe his team faces any pressure outside of its own locker room.
“It gets to the point in the playoffs where there is more noise,” Berube said Wednesday, via NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger. “A lot of past stuff, which I hear around here. That's fine. That's part of it. The only pressure they have is from their own teammates, in my opinion.”
There are certainly reasons behind this increased noise. The Maple Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967, for instance. Moreover, they have made it out of the first round just once in the last eight postseasons. A loss to the Senators would make it eight out of nine. As a result, some of the team's top players have come under fire, which Berube responded to on Wednesday.
“It's on everybody on the team,” Berube said, via Zeisberger. “I mean, I get it. Around here it's all Core, Core, Core, Core Four, but we're a team. It's on everybody on the team, not just four guys.”
As for what his team needs to be better at, he had one simple answer: checking. Berube wants to see his team get into the dirty areas more often. The work done in those areas can facilitate scoring chances. If they can generate those chances, they have a better chance of winning.
“Checking is not just playing defense,” he said, via Zeisberger. “Checking is offense. You check for your chances. You get to the inside, you work like a hound. It creates turnovers from the other team. It creates chaos for the other team. We can do a better job of that.”
The Maple Leafs and Senators take to the ice on Thursday night for Game 6.
