The Toronto Maple Leafs are back at home Saturday to face the Montreal Canadiens after a long road trip. Starting their five-game homestand, it looks like they’ll be without starting goalies Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll for at least the next week.
Speaking to media after morning skate on Saturday, head coach Craig Berube addressed those notable absences between the pipes, but said that it ultimately doesn’t change the game how his group plays.
“I don’t think the mindset changes,” he said. “I think you just gotta keep playing. You know, we come off of the trip, had a great trip, but it’s about not being complacent tonight. Being ready to go from the drop of the puck here tonight. I don’t think much changes with our game based on who’s in net.”
Woll is just the latest victim of Toronto’s injury bug, with injuries already to a number of top players for the Maple Leafs so far this season. It’s an unenviable situation for any team, but a reality you have to learn to deal with, Berube said.
“I’ve been involved with this before with injuries,” he said. “I mean, it’s part of it, and it’s been tough for sure with the injury part of things. But other guys are coming in and stepping up, and that’s the job. That’s why you got extra players, filling holes and playing well, getting an opportunity. It’s just next man up mentality.”
The last time the Leafs played at Scotiabank Arena it was in at the tail-end of a dismal stretch of hockey mid-November. Then, through their six-game road trip, they began to put it all together, now with four wins in their last five games. From Berube’s perspective, he’s not surprised that stretch of time spent together helped the team gel a bit more.
“Going on the road a lot of the times, that’s it, you’re together, you’re playing hockey,” he said. “They’re together all the time and kind of just formed some closeness on the road. And I thought our team took that onto the ice, that’s what I saw.”
The Leafs will try to show that bond and chemistry tonight, looking to get revenge on the Canadiens after falling 5-2 to the group from Montreal in their last showdown.
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