In the Leafs' third game without Auston Matthews, head coach Craig Berube was very impressed with how his team handled themselves in a big win over Montreal.
Without their best goal scorer and captain, the Leafs were forced to play a different style altogether, something that head coach Craig Berube noticed after last night's 4-1 win over Montreal.
On his team's performance against the Canadiens, Berube had this to say:
'Very good. I thought we checked extremely well for two periods. The power play was good again. Clean pretty much with penalties and I thought we played a real smart game. I was really happy. Third period they made a little push but our goalie was really good for us.'
The Maple Leafs only took 3 minor penalties, 1 of which was a coincidental minor. They also won 56.5% of their faceoffs and restricted the Canadiens to just 21 shots on goal, with only 2 in the first period.
Before their shutout victory over Boston on Tuesday, the Leafs had won just 2 of their previous 7 games and were struggling to do just about everything as a team. However, as John Tavares pointed out after last night's win, they stuck with the plan and rallied as a team against 3 divisional foes.
'The results hadn't been going well and at the end of the day, that's what matters most but there were lots of things underneath that, that we saw good trends and good things that were going well. Just had to kind of stay with it. Obviously it can get a little frustrating, but it's a long year. There are ebbs and flows. You just have to stay with it with the type of group we have and the success we've had over the years. Now you're starting to see it pay off.'
The Maple Leafs could be without Max Pacioretty on Tuesday night when they play the Ottawa Senators. The veteran forward was forced out of last night's game with a lower-body injury and if he does indeed miss out their next game, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly will need to continue to pick up the slack in the meantime.
