POSTGAME QUOTES BOSTON BRUINS VS. MAPLE LEAFS Friday, April 19, 2019

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY On whether or not he got an explanation on the goaltender interference review… No, and I did not expect one. We were told that they were going to make their call. Faceoff at center ice, whatever it was, either way. So, I did not get an explanation. There is an email they put out after that you might even get. I don’t know where it goes. I think it’s pretty standard. The review was inconclusive, and therefore the call on the ice stands. That’s about it.

On what he thought of the call… Well, clearly interferes with Tuukka [Rask]. It goes to Toronto, and they have to make a decision. I just hope they don’t predict whether they thought the goalie could make the save, get across in time to determine whether it’s interference. It’s either interference or it’s not. We discussed it. We have a supervisor that follows the series around and both coaches, kind of, voice if there is something that…I think the officiating has been very good this series. There were no issues up in Toronto. There was a play in the third period the other night where [Zach] Hyman crosschecked Zee [Zdeno Chara] from behind in a 5-4 game in front of our net to try to create space. Now, there were a lot of net front battles up there especially in the last 10 minutes, so we had talked a bit about that that it’s getting tight to the goaltender. So, we put our opinion out and sometimes they will let the referees know the temperature of the series and sometimes they won’t. Whether they did or not, sure enough that play comes out and he pushes off Charlie [McAvoy] and then backs into Tuukka. From my viewpoint, it certainly looked like goaltender interference. The call didn’t go our way. It’s 1-0 with eight minutes to go. We have time to get ourselves back in the game and regroup, and unfortunately, we were not able to do that.

On what inspired him to shorten the bench and start changing lines … I didn’t think that we had energy in the bottom of our lineup. They don’t generally play their fourth line a lot, so if our fourth line and the guys we use in that roll aren’t going together in sync then it works against us. That’s the way I saw it. We had a couple of shifts that I thought they got outplayed to a certain extent. When I used them individually, in pieces, with different lines I thought we had a better result so we kind of went three lines and then added a player here or there. I thought that might work out better for us. Obviously, in the end we lost the game so who knows. Clearly, I don’t know if the difference in the game were the minutes that were distributed because they are generally energy anyway, and we lacked a bit of that early on. They are not guys that are going to fill the score sheet, and that’s what we were lacking towards the end, obviously. With a goose egg up there that didn’t generate enough. That was probably my biggest beef. Less about the play of the individual player but the group not generating enough offence with shots or recovery situations where we could take advantage of coverage. We just turned down too many shots in my estimation.

On Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron’s play 5v5 against ’ line… Yeah, tonight, I don’t think there were a lot of 5v5 chances either way, to be honest with you. It was a pretty tight game. I think we matched up a lot against [John] Tavares. We talked about it’s pretty much a wash. Tonight, we went a different direction – well, we used both. Bergy’s going

to play against both Tavares and Matthews, got in between on the first against Matthews, scored I think what was half a line change for each team. We obviously would like to see them generate more, but there’s not a lot of room out there. We’ve said it. I think Toronto has done a better job defensively on us. We have to fight our way through it, find different ways to crack at it, and I think we did out there. Like I said, I thought we got some goals because we caught them in between on a pinch. We recovered a puck, got it to the top of the crease for the Marchand goal. Obviously, our power played helped, but we did get three even-strength goals, and I thought tonight we were having a tough time.

On if this felt like Game 3 and if the remedy is the same heading into Game 6… Well, it felt like that because you certainly want to make them turn and go back because you don’t want to be chasing them into our end all night, and I thought we did a good job of that. It’s 0-0. We’re comfortable in those games. Is it exactly what we wanted? Did we want to…would we have rather come out and got the crowd into it with some big hits and some action around the net? Of course. That’s the game plan. It didn’t go our way that way, but I do believe the remedy is generating shots for rebounds and see if we can put them under duress in that regard. They’re good at going back and getting pucks. They’re going to break some out. I mean, most forechecks aren’t successful most of the time. It’s the times you are…you know, we’ve been pretty good at that this year, and if you’re not successful at least you’re forcing them to go the full length of the ice. Puck management at this time of the year is important. I’m sure they’d say the same thing. They lost a little bit of line-rush game trying to get pucks deep, becomes a bit of a chess match that way, and I think that’s why it was a low-scoring game in Game 3 and tonight. I just didn’t think we generated enough on net when we did have chances to put it in there and then go win the puck after that and force their goalie to make saves. He might do that, he might not, and I think that’s why we ended up struggling to score.

On if this series being a defensive battle surprised him or his coaching staff… Well, we’re fine with that. We’re a very good defensive team that gradually increased our scoring from people other than our power play and maybe our top guys. As the second half went on, we added some players, got healthy here and there, and I thought our secondary scoring went up. Our d started contributing more, so we’re fine with good, tight games, but they were better than us in the third and finished plays. So, it’s a game that even though you’re at home and you wanted to get out there and be the aggressor and, on your toes…at this time of the year there’s a lot at stake, so they’re ready to play as well, just like we will be in Game 6. So, I think we’re fine with that type of game. We just, we have to generate more by, like I said, getting on the top of the crease, getting on net. Most good goalies if they see it, they’re going to stop it. They made two hell of a plays to score. Great seam passes. We broke down a little bit, shame on us on those. Second one, I think we could’ve back-checked a little farther. Then they made a play at the last second. First one was a good seam pass by them. They recovered a puck. We were battling hard on the wall. [Charlie] McAvoy’s battling, Zee’s [Zdeno Chara] battling in front, and they end up winning the puck. So, at the end of the day I don’t mind the style of the game, being a low- scoring game, because generally that works in our direction, but Toronto’s proven in this series that they’re getting more comfortable with it. And clearly, they were tonight.

BOSTON BRUINS GOALTENDER TUUKKA RASK On if he thought there was interference on Toronto’s goal...

I don’t know. I just felt the contact so I went after the ref there, let him know that there was contact. I don’t – they looked at it, so it’s a goal. I mean, I just saw him, he had the puck, as soon as he passed it he kind of like bumped into my head and then that was it. But, you know, I mean I trust that they get them right.

On if he could have stopped the puck if there was no contact... Yeah, I would have gotten a push because I saw the pass going that way, but it just kind of distracted me. It wasn’t a major contact, you know, it happens so quick that you don’t kind of – you don’t want to start selling it. I guess if I just fell on my ass there it might have been a different story, but yeah. Tough.

On if he’s seen the replay of the goal... Not yet, no.

On if Zach Hyman pushed Charlie McAvoy and then banged into him... Yeah, something like that. I didn’t even know who was it at first, I just felt the contact and so that’s why I kind of just skated off and told the ref. But then I guess it was Hyman’s hand or stick or something that just bumped into me a little bit.

On his play before Toronto’s first goal... No, yeah, I mean just tough bounce you know. But, yeah, those happen. Just got to battle through it.

On what the team needs to do heading into Game 6... Well just to play a solid road game. I think, you know, we know how to do that. Try to score one or two more goals than they. That’s about it. But, yeah, I think we just play our game. Play our game and play it as well as we can and then results – whatever happens, happens and we can live with it.

On how quickly they need to put the loss behind them... Yeah, it’s just – win or lose I think you just park it right after and then get some rest and maybe do a little practicing the next day and then that’s it. I think our mindset has been pretty good all year with that, so not going to change now.

On if games are coming down to intangibles like execution and desire... Yeah, I think so. I think today both teams defended pretty well, it was just kind of one of those chippy games that up until the end there was not too many rushes or what not. Just kind of a grinding game for both teams, so that’s what it takes. That’s kind of playoff hockey sometimes, you know, especially when you get late in the series, you know, mistakes play a huge role so nobody wants to make them and you just end up kind of grinding it out and I guess that’s what we’re expecting Game 6.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD PATRICE BERGERON On if the ebbs and flows of this series were expected…

Yeah, for sure. You know, we expected a hard-fought series, that’s what we’re getting. Obviously not the result that we wanted tonight but now it’s about getting ready, going to Toronto, and doing the job.

On how confident he is going in to game 6… Yeah, we have to rely on each other and put ourselves in a bubble and do the job. That’s the bottom line. Everything is on the line now. Obviously a missed opportunity tonight but like I said, there’s not much we can do right now, right, about tonight’s game. So now it’s about moving forward and be ready to head on the plane tomorrow, and going to Toronto, and be ready for a big game.

On how frustrating the power plays were… Yeah, we had some really good looks early on and we have to find ways to put those in. And that’s something we’ve been doing all series and we have to keep that going.

On how Tuukka Rask played tonight… He was great. Made the stops that he had to, and those two plays – or breakdowns – were backdoor plays so there’s not much he can really do there.

On his thought on the review of Toronto’s first goal… I think it could have gone either way, to be honest with you. I really think that – I thought there was a chance, to be honest. But you know, when the decision is made, you have to look forward. Not much you can do.

On if tonight’s game compared to Game 3… Yeah, I think so. I think they’re doing a good job of keeping us to the outside. We have to find a way to get to the inside a lot more. The goals that we scored have been from the inside, also some rebounds, some really in tight, and you know, that’s – I guess there’s no other answers than that. I think we need to get to the inside a little bit more.

BOSTON BRUINS CENTER DAVID KREJCI On his takeaways from Game 5… We just got to be better. You know, we’re going to have our back against the wall, so we have to learn from this game and be better and honestly play desperate hockey and get a W no matter what it takes.

On how frustrating tonight’s game was… Yeah, it is. What do you think? It’s Game 5, right, at home, so there you go.

On if he felt the game was tight for both teams… Yeah, 0-0 going into the third. Honestly, we were feeling really good. We’ve been in this situation before and we’ve handled it pretty well in the past, so we knew we could do it. But, just didn’t go our way, like I said, we have to do better next game.

On if he thought a sense of urgency was missing tonight… I think we have to be better next game, that’s it.

On how much he likes the team’s chance winning in Toronto… Honestly, I feel like we have a really good team here. We knew it was going to be a tough series going in. Probably thought it was going to go for Game 6 back to Toronto, maybe with a different outcome, but at the same time, it’s just one game, right? One game at a time and got to get a win and come back for Game 7.

On what made it tough to get the offense going tonight… That’s a good question. If you have the answer, I would like to know. So we’ll put more pucks in the net next game, but yeah.

On why it’s difficult to contain Austin Matthews… He’s a good player. We have to take away his speed, his space and be in his face. He’s a good player, he’s going to make plays, so you have to play tight on him and not give him much room in the neutral zone because once he gets his speed, his hands are faster than his speed, so it’s tough to slow him down, so you have to make sure you’re on top of him. Make sure he doesn’t get a puck with lot of speed because he’ll make you pay.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD DAVID PASTRNAK On the game overall… Obviously, tough loss, you know? We had chances to get the first goal. When it’s a long tied game, sometimes the one goal is what you need, and we didn’t get it first.

On if he got hurt on a hit in the first period… No.

On if the power-play opportunities bother him the most… Definitely. We really wanted to score the first, and we had chances that didn’t go our way. Nothing you can do now about it. Just going to regroup, and big game next game, so want to bring it back home.

On if the team had the appropriate sense of urgency for a Game 5… Yeah, obviously, but it is playoffs. It doesn’t matter if it’s Game 1 or Game 5 or Game 6, you want to win every single one, and at this point we want to win and bring our best game.

On what needs to be done differently in Game 6… I don’t know. The only thing I remember was, after the first period, we had six shots. Put more pucks on their goalie. We scored five last game, so we’ve got to make sure we shoot everything to the net and recover pucks and just a little bit more offense, I guess.

On what the Leafs have done well against his line… I don’t know, to be honest. They play a bit man-on-man against us, but it’s nothing that we haven’t faced the whole season. Teams are playing like this against us, and we’ve got to find better ways to get – we’re getting the opportunities, we just need to find a better way to score or get the rebound and stay on the puck.

On why Auston Matthews has been better in this series than last year’s… I don’t know. He’s a heck of a player, and he got a big goal for them tonight. So, good for him, and we’ve got to make sure we defend him better, and to be honest, just focus on ourselves and on our team game.

On how he feels about winning a Game 6… Well, we won there already, so we know what we need to do. Tonight wasn’t our best game, and we know we’ve got better. So, we’re pretty confident that we can bring it back home, and we will.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD SEAN KURALY On whether he felt like his team was not sharp tonight… I thought for most of the game it was a pretty even game, I thought we had some chances and they ended up getting the first one and then it is kind of tough to come back two late. I thought we did some good things tonight and that’s the way it goes. You battle this hard and the first one was the one that was going to be the most important tonight.

On the lines being shifted around… I think it is something we’ve been used to all year. On any given night you can be on any line. That’s how we’ve come up as a team, that’s part of our style, I think.

On how he feels physically… I felt alright. Obviously, you want to contribute more when you lose and be better when you lose. That’ll be the plan for next game. Definitely there was some time off there, and I’d like to be better.

On it being harder to get back in the flow in a post season game… I think it’s a high pace, it’s a lot. As a player it is your job to be ready. That will be the focus going forward.

On slowing their breakouts… Get on them in the forecheck, put the pucks in good spots. I think for the most part we did that tonight, late they got one, but I think for the most part we were on top of them, I think we want to be on top of them more. Taking the body on the forecheck and putting pucks in good sports.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD BRAD MARCHAND On if he thought they were sharp tonight… We’ve had better games. I don’t think either team was great, but it was the difference of one play. Game is over now, worry about the next one.

On if he thought they should have taken the first goal back… Those are tough plays, tough calls for the refs. Is what it is, doesn’t matter now. Game’s over, again, and we’ll worry about the next one.

On if you have to forget about this game and move on…

Yeah, you’ve got to do that regardless of what happens. It doesn’t matter if you lose 10-1 or 2-1, you’ve got to let it go and focus on the next game. You get caught worrying about this one, we don’t want it to affect the next one, because obviously we’re playing for our lives and got to be a little better.

On how much he likes their chances in Game 6… Well, it’s going to be a battle again. We’re fighting for our lives, so we’ve shown character all year, and hopefully that shows up here next game. It’s a tough building to play in. They’re obviously feeling good about themselves, so it’s going to be a battle out there, and we’re going to have to be ready to compete and play our best game, because you know they’re going to bring their best game.

On going from a high-scoring game to a low-scoring game… It doesn’t matter what happens in any previous game. You never look at any game that you’ve played and expect a game to play out the same way. In hockey, every game is different; every play is different, so simple answer.

On if he sees the power plays as missed opportunities… Yeah, any time you don’t score on a few power plays like that it’s frustrating. This series has essentially been about special teams, so it would’ve been nice to get one, but we didn’t.

On if he thinks they were sharp on the power play… The ice is really tough to make plays on right now. I think if you watch the game overall, it was tough to be sharp with ice like that, but we can be a little bit better with execution. We had a couple of looks that unfortunately didn’t go in, but that’s hockey.

BOSTON BRUINS CENTER CHARLIE COYLE On his takeaways from Game 5… We have to win the next one, that’s all. Focus on that. That’s behind us. You know, we should’ve played good enough to pull that one out, but lots at stake now, have to win the next one, that’s all.

On how frustrating tonight’s game was… I don’t think we played to our capabilities and what we’ve shown before and what we have. I think we need to be a little stronger on the puck. Know who we’re up against. You know, we need third guy high, we gave too many odd man rushes, too many chances. Tuukka came up huge early on and that kept us in it.

On how big Tuukka was for the team tonight… Yeah, he was huge. He played a great game. That’s the type of goaltending we need from him and we need to help him out. We can’t expect him to do it all. We need to score, score goals to win games.

On going up to Toronto to play Game 6… Yeah, it’s going to be fun. It’s what it takes. One game. That’s all. That’s all that’s on our mind right now is just one game. We have to take it and we’ll prepare for it now.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK On defensive effort tonight… Well I think we come to play most every night to be honest with you, that’s how you become a good team in the league. We’re playing a really good team, we played well tonight defensively. The ice was tough, boy it was humid in the building but I thought our guys just kept grinding, stayed patient, didn’t get in our own way tonight. In the end we had good goaltending, good special teams, and won the game.

On review of Auston Matthews goal… I didn’t know because if things aren’t right, if you don’t know you never know. Obviously it was a good goal, it was a good play, we scored a good goal, it’s nice when it counts. You got to be ready if it doesn’t go your way either so that’s all we talked about let’s be ready for the next shift, let’s be ready to go.

On Auston Matthews game… Well I thought tonight in particular was his best two-hundred-footer of the playoffs. He was outstanding, he was involved in so many break-outs, he was there available for the defense on that goal that [Kasperi] Kapanen scores. He’s right there for the defense, he makes the play coming on the defensive zone. People just think because you’re a good player you know how to do that, you don’t know how to do that because you don’t have to do that when you’re a kid and so you got to learn how to do it and then you got to learn how to do it tonight. Between John [Tavares] and him, well everybody, Patrice Bergeron’s a real player with Brad Marchand and whose ever with them. I thought he played great I was impressed with him and I’m proud for him, he should feel good about himself.

On Kasperi Kapanen’s play… Well that’s a huge goal for him but if you go through [Kasperi] Kapanen’s life he’s found a way to score big goals in his life anyway. Kapanen’s got a swagger about him, he’s got some confidence and that’s really important. It doesn’t matter who you are at times when it’s not going as good you question yourself a little bit, that’s what the is about, it takes your confidence away at times and you just got to keep grinding. I thought he was great tonight.

On takeaways from tonight… I’ll watch the tape and then I’ll decide. Obviously the hardest game to win is the fourth game to put the other team out, especially a proud group of guys. It’s something that we haven’t been able to do in the last three years, I don’t think we should’ve probably been in the playoffs three years ago but we got there. Now it’s the process of learning how to do this, that’s all part of growing the group, it’s not easy as you can see in the league, we’ll get prepared and be ready to push.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS DEFENSEMAN JAKE MUZZIN On creating the scoring opportunity for Auston Matthews…

Yeah, first thought is always pretty much, ‘Shoot,’ but then I saw some ice and just took it and saw Matts [Matthews] open up, so good play by him opening him. I said earlier, he’s a big guy, so you see him out of the corner of your eye, and great finish by him.

On what he was thinking during the review on Matthews’s goal… ‘Please, please, no goaltender interference.’ And we got one there, so we’ll take it.

On if it felt like the first team to score would win the game… Yeah, it was tight checking through the first two. A few breakdowns here and there, but for the most part, a lot of pucks on the walls, you know, and just playing safe, really, from both teams, so a couple kills were good, and then you’re just waiting for one breakdown, kind of here of there to capitalize, and we were fortunate to capitalize tonight on them.

On his past 24 hours… Yeah, it’s been crazy. I don’t recommend having a baby in playoffs, but hey, that’s the way it worked, and I’m grateful for the win tonight, and most importantly, the health and happiness of my wife and my new girl, so exciting times.

On if he was on a high tonight… Yeah, you know, I try not to get too pumped up. I wanted to stay within myself and, you know, I was able to, for the most part.

On Travis Dermott’s play on the two-on-one… Yeah, great slide, and just making him make a play before he wants to, I think is a crucial play on the two-on-one, and he did a textbook slide there.

On the maturity of the team… We have some veteran guys in here that kind of calm things down. We have Fred [Frederik Andersen] in net who calms things down, and then we let the young guys play, and they’re just having fun and playing hard. It’s a great time to play. Everyone wants to play in these games, and if you go and have fun and work hard, you’re going to play a better game, so I think the young guys did a good job of that.

On the team’s penalty kill… Yeah, crucial. Special teams are important, and our penalty kill—we needed to do a better job on our PK, and we did that tonight.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS FORWARD AUSTON MATTHEWS On what was going through his mind as his goal was getting reviewed... I mean, been through it a couple times the past couple years, so I don’t know, just I guess you just always hope for the best. I mean, I haven’t really got a good look at it, but fortunate that – I mean, they called it a good goal, so I’ll take it.

On what it felt like to break through after a scoreless two periods... I mean, it was huge. I thought our line – we had really good looks tonight. We forechecked well, I thought we broke out, probably the best game of the series as far as breaking the puck out

cleanly and just communicating coming out of our zone. So, you know, it’s nice to be rewarded I guess. I thought we stuck with it. I thought both teams played pretty well defensively- there really wasn’t much going on the first couple periods, it was just kind of back and forth with not much substance. So, nice to break through and obviously another big goal by Kappy [Kasperi Kapanen] there a couple minutes later.

On the team’s defensive play... I mean, I think it just makes everything easier when you communicate. I thought that was the biggest thing – we were just talking, working things out together, just working as a five-man unit and still all being on our different programs. So, I thought that was the biggest thing and when we’re breaking out clean like that, attacking the opposing team with our speed and skill, I think we make it hard on them as well as just taking care of the puck – especially in the neutral zone – so when we’re just doing all those things, just kind of doing things right like that, I think it makes it tough for them to defend.

On looking ahead to Game 6... Yeah, absolutely. We’ve got to regroup, take the good and bad from this game, move on and get ready for Game 6 on Sunday. We’ve got an opportunity to close out this series in our rink, so we’re excited, we’ve got to be ready to go, and we know the atmosphere’s going to be amazing there. So, we’re looking forward to it.

On Jake Muzzin’s assist on his goal... It was an amazing play. It was – they do a good job just keeping five guys kind of in tight and just kind of try to find an open space and like you said, he made an unbelievable pass to me there and I just tried to get the puck on net and I was able to get it through.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS FORWARD ZACH HYMAN On his overall thoughts on the total team victory… Yeah, you said it best, total team victory here. Guys were battling. We wanted this one, and it took a full 60 to get it done, but we got it done.

On the review of Auston Matthews’s goal… I don’t know. I mean, you never know when it goes to review. Luckily, we were on the right side of things. I didn’t watch it, I didn’t want to watch it, but we’re just happy they counted it.

On if this was the best team effort all year… Yeah, it’s up there for sure, and obviously when we needed it. We’ll take that one, for sure.

On if he felt contact with Tuukka Rask on the Matthews goal… I don’t know. I think I was battling, I don’t know who I was battling in front of the net with, and I think I might’ve bumped into him, but I don’t think it caused much of anything on it, but I didn’t see the replay, like I said, so I don’t really know, but I thought it was a good goal on the ice, and then they said so.

On the tight second and third periods…

Yeah, there wasn’t much either way, obviously. They hit a crossbar pretty early in the second, and then we put two in and they got one on the six-on-five, so it was a tight game. There wasn’t much give, and we’re happy we got the first one, and it helped us.

On the team’s penalty kill… Yeah, it’s a huge bounce-back for our penalty kill, so we needed that. We talked about it before, we talked about that we needed to get back on track, and we got back on track.

On how important it is not to have to come back and play in Boston… I mean, you want to take care of business on home ice, so we’ve got that on Sunday.

On what the team needs to do next game… Play like we did today. Play the right way. When we don’t turn the puck over and when we play fast and play our game, we’re a hard team to beat, and I don’t think we turned it over much today. I thought we got it behind them, thought we worked them and got our chances, and it’s a tight game both ways. There weren’t many chances, and when we got ours, we buried them.

On keeping mental discipline during the series… Oh yeah, it’s an emotional series, emotional game, so you can get caught up in it, but you’ve just got to keep a level head, know that it’ll probably end up balancing out, and just keep playing hard and when you’re playing hard, you draw penalties the other way.

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY PREGAME On Marcus Johansson… Energy I thought was good, chemistry we’re going to find out I think it’s there at times, other times they got hemmed in. I don’t know if that’s a chemistry issue, we’re just not winning enough pucks and staying alive in the offensive zone, that’s part of it for that group. Charlie [Coyle] has been real good at that, whoever is on the right side whether it’s [David] Backes, [Chris] Wagner, or whoever has gone in there I think that’s where they can be better, hanging onto pucks in the offensive zone. I think the rush game is good, we saw that earlier in the series with Marcus [Johansson], certainly going to help us in the power play, it’s a matter of keeping pucks alive in the offensive zone.

On if he thinks Sean Kuraly will play… I do.

On who Sean Kuraly will replace… [Joakim] Nordstrom, if he’s in.

On blocking shots… It’s a direct result of how they’re playing in the offensive zone, a lot of low to high. We saw [Danton] Heinen’s goal went low to high, [Travis] Dermott blocked one of them. I think it’s certainly part of their strategy if you want to use that word to create offense in the offensive zone, they get to the front of the net, they get low to high. Our team statistically this year is very good at slot coverage, we tend to win that battle, we’ve closed down that area pretty well. [Auston] Matthews got in there a couple times the other night but for the most part we’ve been

good with that. I think it’s just a product of what they’re doing and our guys willingness to do it. That’s part of our system of layers for wingers, they collapse low, protect the slot, go out on the low-to-high or defense-to-defense. It’s a product of both, our guys know that it’s part of the job description, some guys are better than others just able to front, but for the most part that is the winger’s job in our system unless you get out there in a hurry before they shoot.

On maintaining momentum… Well we had a 5-2 lead in the third, we liked that part of the game a lot on the road in a game where we’re down in the series. We didn’t necessarily love the last nine minutes, they had a strong push. This isn’t January where teams are down in the third and they’re thinking okay we’re off to Buffalo tomorrow, if you watch Colorado a couple nights ago come back from two down, St. Louis last night, we’re playing to the last whistle, we have to understand that and I think we do, they just had a good push. We’re going to take this stuff from the last 10 minutes of what we can do better to protect the lead, we want to be in that position again, some of it is breaking the puck out better clearly, some of it is having more offensive zone time. You do want to manage the puck, I thought we did a terrific job of that the first 10 minutes, how we built the lead from 4-2 to 5-2. Those are the things we take from the previous game, tonight will take on a life of its own. Obviously we would like to take some of what we did in game two, that energy level, the physicality, the no time no space kind of mentality into tonight’s game and go from there.

On Sean Kuraly back in with fourth line… Well they were really good all year for us so Sean [Kuraly] is a big part of that, a bit undervalued on paper, he’s a guy that can get to loose pucks in our end and get it out of our zone, that’s what we missed a little the other night. He’s good at protecting it down low in their zone, he’s certainly a hard guy to get the puck from when he’s on and that complements [Chris] Wagner and [Noel] Acciari that then can go to the net. When there are puck battles for the second chances, when the pucks arrived there, that’s what they do well in that line. That’s what Sean does, he holds it for them and allows some separation and however it gets to the net whether he shoots it or goes low-to-high that’s where that line is effective in the offensive zone. I’ve always said that that’s why I think they’re good in defensive zone because they can play in the offensive zone. A lot of the time they start in their end, they get down in their end, now we got a faceoff, we build momentum with [David] Krejci’s line coming up or [Patrice] Bergeron’s, they’ve done a real good job with that, tilting the ice so we can get our offensive players out there. He’s hard to play against, Sean, gets in the way, these last two playoffs he’s been very good offensively. We’d love for that to happen but most of all we’d like him just to be able to frustrate the other team’s top players by having the puck and by checking well, he’ll be hard to play against. We’ll see if they can get that back, I think it’s hard you miss part of the playoffs, Sean, he’s a guy that never really has a problem with energy, he’s a high-motor guy.

On his relationship with Sean Kuraly… Well I assume that every boss has faith and trust in you, you probably relax a little bit, go out there and get the job done. I’d like to think we have that with all our players, it’s just certain times it doesn’t always happen. With him I do believe his game doesn’t change a lot that’s why, the only time with Sean is when he starts not protecting the puck in the offensive zone and making high-seam passes that are off, I would prefer him to hang onto it for those reasons. He

may not realize it but the guys chasing him around the ice are having no fun when that’s going on, he’s taking some of the will out of the other team by doing that, that’s one of his strengths. I suspect that he’s going to be ready to go, he’s well-liked by his teammates, he knows what his role is here, he’s going to get lots of opportunities to do it, let’s hope he’s up to the task.

On the fourth line matchup… They’re quick to pucks and they’re playing behind you and they’re following to the net and without Sean’s [Kuraly] ability, once he grabs it, he’s hard to get it from, he’s up to speed in two strides, he’s fast. They were able to expose them with the [Trevor] Moore goal in game three, good for them that’s the way playoff hockey goes. Our guys are used to playing against top end skill so part of that is they don’t want to give up odd man rushes, so they’re used to playing against lines, okay we got to really work hard to get back so we don’t give them easy chances. The other night it was more of a line that was just chucking it around kind of like they do when they’re in the zone, that might have been a little bit new to them from what they’re used to in a matchup.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK PREGAME On keys to the game… Obviously you want to have the puck as much as you possibly can, you want to spend as much time in the offensive zone as you can. That’s having the puck, that’s executing, that’s being heavy when you have it and keeping it and spending time in the offensive zone. I think in particular when you go on the road the first 10 minutes it’s even more critical, good poise and execution early and be ready to play at a level that’s worthy of a game like this. It’s an exciting time for everybody involved, dig in and play.

On fourth line’s performance… I think they’ve played good, I don’t know if they’re called fourth-liners but they’ve done a real nice job and they’ve played hard. I think [Trevor] Moore has been really effective, he’s been good since he’s been in with his limited opportunities, I think he’s done a good job for us, he’s been physical as well down in the offensive zone.

On return of Sean Kuraly… I don’t know what he’s planning on doing. This is what’s happened I believe in the four games in the series with the matchups, whoever’s been ahead it’s been easy to lend your bench and control what’s going on. When you’re chasing the game the other guys running your bench and you can’t do what you need to do, who you line up against and who you play against you got to beat them one on one. As a team game you want to control that so you’re in position to get the things you want matchup-wise.

On addressing penalty kills… We didn’t like what happened, we thought we had it covered and we didn’t. Obviously we addressed that, it’s a game of mistakes as you all know, you try to eliminate the mistakes as much as you can. It’s on the coaching staff to do a good job and then on the players to execute that job.

On Kasperi Kapanen’s play… Well I think he’s really come on here, I thought he had a real dip and that’s he’s really come on, he’s been physical, he’s been quick. I think when you jam everything together you can paint any picture you want, I also think if you just look at his last game I thought he was pretty effective. He needs to continue to do that and be physical and shoot the puck, throw it in from wherever he’s at.

On Michael Hutchinson as backup goaltender… To tell you the truth we’re in the middle of a series, I haven’t spent one second on this, [Michael] Hutchinson is the backup today and for the rest of the series.

On slowing down Bruins momentum… Well we just got to get back to what we were doing. Anytime you’re a goal-scorer and you score you feel good about yourself, that’s the beauty of a series is they didn’t have a goal and suddenly they got a goal, we’re the same way. This series has been about responding and we have to respond here today.

On Steve Yzerman’s value for Detroit… Well the first thing is, Steve I’ve known him for a long time, I played for him his last year, the times you’re talking about, a real good man. Kenny Holland does a really good job, he’s set up so when the general manager came in he’s ready to go contract wise and draft pick wise. Steve Yzerman is a fan-favorite in Detroit, I think he’ll do a great job.

On the division getting more competitive… That’s what it’s all about isn’t it, don’t you want to be with the best and beat the best, that’s to me what sports is supposed to be about, it’s not supposed to be about finding someone soft to play against. This is why this time of year is so exciting, it’s best on best, let’s go.

#04/19/19#