Craig Berube calls hit on Laughton ‘penalty, all day long’, loved Leafs’ collective effort vs. Panthers
“Well, it always means a lot playing Florida, Tampa. I think you kind of create some rivals against these teams playing them in the playoffs last year, similar to when Ottawa came into here. Those games are intense. And, they’re going to be intense, we know that. When you play Florida, you got to match the physicality, you got to match how they’re coming at you all night. They’re going to put it in, and they’re going to come at you, that’s the way they play, and I thought we did a really good job for two periods exposing that at times and creating some odd-man rushes…everybody had a part in it tonight, which was good, we needed that.”
A scary scene in the late in the second period as Maple Leafs forward Scott Laughton was hit from behind by Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen. Laughton was bloodied from the hit, which looked as dirty as any hit on a Maple Leaf this season.
Scott Laughton is hit directly from behind. No call on the play.
🎥: Sportsnet | #LeafsForever
Surprisingly, there was no penalty called on the play. Berube didn’t shy away from sharing his feelings when asked about the hit.
“That’s a penalty, all day long. They call that 95% of the time. But, they didn’t call it that time. And that’s whatever. I mean, I’m not gonna complain about it.”
“Good team effort, everybody had a part in it tonight. [Brandon] Carlo, great having him back tonight,” Berube said. “I thought he played well, he’d been out for a long time, but I thought he really did a good job in there tonight. All around good team effort. Penalty kill had to do a good job, especially early in the third with a penalty starting the period, and right after again. So, getting those kills were big.”
Easton Cowan opened the scoring late in the first period, thanks to some hard work from his linemates Nick Robertson and Nicolas Roy. The Leafs’ third line has been buzzing lately, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by Berube, who knows how important they are for the team’s success.
“They’ve been good, they’ve been solid. For me, they’ve been solid in all three zones,” Berube told reporters. “I think they’re probably, in the offensive zone, in my opinion, in the last three of four games, they’ve probably created as many chances as anybody on our team with their puck play. That lines been very, very good for us. Getting some goals from that line is big for secondary scoring.”
Matthew Knies scored the Leafs second goal of the game early in the second period, on a nice tip in front. Berube’s loving what he’s seeing of late from Knies, who he’s asked to be more present in the dirty areas of the ice, including in front of the opposing net.
“I thought he was really strong tonight on the puck, in battles, things like that. Again, he’s scoring some goals, probably 10 feet out around the net. That’s where he scores his goals.”
“It’s great, Mats is an unbelievable guy. I didn’t really know him that well until last year when I met him, and just being around him. I played against him for a number of years. Great human being, great player. To come here, present an award to Matthews, it shows a lot. Great job by ‘Matty’ accomplishing that feat.”
The Maple Leafs are rolling at the moment, moving to 15-5-2 on home ice this season. They’ll look to continue their recent strong play when they hit the road to take on the Flyers, in Philadelphia on Thursday.