BOSTON BRUINS PREGAME QUOTES BOSTON BRUINS VS TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS Saturday, April 21, 2017

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY POSTGAME On the Bruins’ start… It clearly wasn’t good enough. We let them get to the top of the paint for a couple of goals that we’re generally solid on. We had a couple of two-on-twos that turned into two very good chances, happened up there. So, clearly, we’ve got to address that. Those aren’t odd-man rushes, that’s not stretch plays, that’s just basic two on twos that we need to communicate better, square up better, defend better. Then obviously, you want a save, as well, mixed in in those, and that didn’t happen either. So, the stuff that we’ve done lately: defend, get saves, that didn’t happen early on. We found our legs eventually and fought our way back in, but the start wasn’t good enough.

On if the power plays and late push just didn’t seem to be… Well, you’ve got to give their goaltender credit. Both games we’ve lost, we’ve put over 40 shots on net. At least 20-something chances, not all on net, that were great chances. So, he was very good tonight; let’s face it. He made a lot of good saves. The goals we got weren’t cheap. Maybe the last one he lost track of, but we were around their net a lot. They got out to the early lead. It’s always easier to play with the lead. I wouldn’t say it wasn’t meant to be. I thought we were very close. I mean, Pasta [David Pastrnak] had a rebound there that he made a hell of a save on, could’ve made it 4-4. Then, obviously from there it’s anybody’s game. So, we pushed back, just give him credit. He made saves.

On if Patrice Bergeron’s injury could be an issue in the next game… I won’t project past Game 6. He made it through today’s game healthy, finished the game. You always want to see how they are in the morning. I don’t anticipate there will be any issues going in to Game 6. Of course, that could change, but that’s the way it is right now.

On if David Backes brought fight… He generally does in these types of games. Got a big goal from being at the front of the net. We got a fortunate bounce there, but you’ve got to be in a position to capitalize on those. When we got down a little bit, he tried to stir it up a bit, and those are the things he does well. Those are the intangibles we rely on. Physicality part, the games we win, he is generally leading our team in hits. Maybe even did tonight without winning, but that’s what he brings this time of year. It’s that steady kind of plotting, play inside, win your puck battles. Type of players you need.

On Tuukka Rask… I didn’t think he had it tonight, so we went with Anton [Khudobin], who has been very good for us. And then there’s always that part, gets the rest of the team’s attention as well. So, it’s both. I don’t want to measure, quantify what percentage of each, but clearly if I thought he was on, then he wouldn’t have got pulled. I guess I’ll put it that way.

On the power play… They did a better job pressuring us. I thought we had numerous chances to score, so I’ll give, again, their goaltender credit. Five-on-three, we had some looks. He made a hell of a save on Marchy [Brad Marchand]. Our five-on-three’s been pretty good this year. We tend to look for a seam somewhere and get a high-percentage shot. We got a couple that we wanted. I think we had Torey backdoor that he just couldn’t quite get enough force on, would’ve been an open net. So, there was a couple opportunities there. Some of the other power plays early on I thought were good. We hit a post, maybe two. So, the power play, obviously, when you look at the numbers, one for six, the immediate thing is it’s not good enough, but I thought we generated on the majority of them offense to get goals. But again, I give their guy credit. In hindsight, we needed more from it.

On the challenges that the Leafs line changes presented… Four balanced lines. Obviously, at the end of the day, you have to pick your poison when you see that balance. I think we roll out four balanced lines, maybe different kind of structure of how they play the game. I’ve said this, I think we’re comfortable with most of the matchups every night. So, at the end of the day, we’ve asked our players to accept the matchup you get, and play the guy across from you, and a lot of times we do. Tonight, even strength there at the start, we didn’t, and it wasn’t just young guys or a certain line. Different lines got scored on, and part of that was us just not being hard in front of our net. The [Tyler] Bozak goal, we got beat up the ice after a long O-zone shift, which is dangerous. That’s the one you really need a save right there. You’ve got yourself back in the game. The first period is almost forgotten about, it’s now 2-1, so that’s one we needed. We were a little late trying to kill that rush in three different spots, and they capitalized.

On if he points out to the players what else is going on in the playoffs… No, we don’t talk about Tampa Bay. We talked about, the other night, this morning, we talked about how the two Stanley Cup finalists from last year couldn’t close out. It’s not easy. So, let’s just stay in the moment and stay focused, not think about tomorrow or what we’re going to do if we win or don’t win. Just go out and play. Whether that has any effect or not, I doubt it. I think the players, generally, our guys are a very professional group. They go show up and play. We saw that with our pushback. We just dug ourselves a hole we couldn’t quite dig out of, and nothing to do with Tampa Bay or what was ahead. We’ll talk about what’s ahead when we get our fourth win.

BOSTON BRUINS GOALTENDER TUUKKA RASK On a summary of the game… Probably could’ve stopped more pucks with my eyes closed. That’s about it. It’s on me, but moving on to the next one and we’ll finish it out in Toronto.

On how you felt going into the game… Yeah, you know, I felt good. Sometimes you track pucks better than other days. Today, as you can probably tell, I wasn’t tracking the puck very well and it happens sometimes. Too bad it happened today, but like I said, moving on to next game on Monday. So work on tracking the puck better next time.

On realizing early on you might have trouble tracking the puck…

No, I mean I didn’t have too many shots out there. But you know, it’s just one of those…you’re fighting it. Those first two goals had nothing to do with tracking, but you know, just really never got into the game and couldn’t make those stops that I should’ve made to keep the game tied. Especially that third goal, we scored to get the momentum going and then they get a chance and you know I couldn’t stop the puck there, so those are tough ones, but as I said, it happens.

On running off the ice… Yeah, I have to burn the energy somehow. You know, I just run in here and grab a bottle of water and that’s it.

On coach’s decision to pull him… Well, I mean I think a lot of coaches would have made the same decision.

On Toronto having a little more energy at the start… Probably a little bit, yeah. But I don’t think we were bad. I mean obviously, you know, when they scored the first goal and then the second goal that gave them some life. That’s something we wanted to do; didn’t accomplish that, but that’s where your goaltender needs to step up and make one of those saves or both saves and kind of weather the storm a little bit. Today, I didn’t and we were playing catch up the whole night.

On what you do to regroup for Game 6… Go home, sleep, eat, travel to Toronto, get some work done. That’s about it. You always prepare yourself that same way and try to feel as good as possible.

On having a good game one night and a bad one the next… Yeah, that’s the way it is. You play good, you kind of put it behind you; you play bad, you put it behind you. You just stay even no matter what happens. That’s hockey. Sometimes you’re awesome, sometimes you’re not.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD DAVID PASTRNAK On the team not playing a full 60 minutes... Yeah, that was a tough game, you know. We kind of let them get on the board early and they’ve been better in the first period than us and I think that cost us at the end.

On not being able to capitalize on chances... Yeah, definitely. We are a great offensive team; we can score easily three – over three – goals in a game, but definitely need to tighten up in the D zone, especially in the beginning, and four goals against is a lot in playoffs. But, yeah you know, tough loss, but we need to focus on the next game and go win in Toronto.

On the team’s power play effort tonight... Yeah, I mean, we had chances – that’s a good thing, right? We could have scored many times. We didn’t today, but our second PP came up good for us and they got a goal for us, so it was huge and you’re right, I think we still had chances and they just didn’t go in and we will hopefully be better next game.

On if the team came out flat and the reason for the slow start... Well, they got that first goal, you know. It’s always the big hype, especially in this kind of game, so it definitely helped them going forward. But, it’s still a long game, right? We need to focus on another shift after the first goal, you know, and get better.

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN MATT GRZELCYK On not being able to capitalize on chances... Yeah, for sure. I thought we had plenty of chances, threw out a lot of pucks to the net, trying to clean up the garbage but it just wouldn’t go on a few plays and they were able to capitalize on some of their chances. We’ve just got to be ready to defend better next game.

On the speed that Toronto started the game with... Yeah, obviously they are a desperate team; we knew that coming in. They’ve been a fast team all year and obviously they had a little bit of an extra gear – it’s not unexpected – but we’ve just got to obviously have a better start and be ready to defend harder.

On pinching down low and finding Sean Kuraly on the goal in the second... Yeah, I mean, we were down 4-1 there. Things weren’t really looking good, so just tried to get involved offensively and that’s what we’re trying to do as defensemen, obviously keep pucks alive and kind of make them defend a little bit, try to tire them out because they were kind of stretching us out pretty good there, and it was all Sean honestly. He made it wide open and I saw him for a couple seconds there and just tried to throw it in the area and he made a great play.

On why the stretch passes continue to be an issue... Yeah, I mean, it’s not always easy to close as defensemen. Sometimes it’s a little uneasy, you’re kind of skating forward when they’re trying to chip it behind you. So, that’s what they’ve been doing well all year and we obviously knew that coming in. They’re a good team; they’re going to make plays obviously, so just something we have to be mindful of and just kind of work in tandem with whoever is out there. If one guy is going to pinch, the other guy’s got to come over and try to help him out and break the puck out.

On the team’s start... I think we had a little bit of energy, back in our own building, but they kind of got that first goal and we were back on our heels a little bit obviously and they took advantage – made it two- nothing – so, that’s obviously not a hole you want to have to dig yourself out of and we’ve just got to obviously start on time next game.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD TIM SCHALLER On a late push in the game… Yeah, we had a good push back. We’ve been doing that all year. Once they went up 4-1 I think it was, we still knew that we could win the game. I think what we struggled with all year was playing a full 60 minutes. If we play a full 60 minutes, we can definitely beat them next game.

On the push from his line in the second period…

Just keeping it simple. We were doing what worked for us all year - getting pucks deep, taking the body, creating turnovers, going to the net. They weren’t the prettiest goals, but we did the right thing and it worked.

On getting the puck deep… Yeah, smart dumps. You know, [Sean] Kuraly is fast, he’s going to get there first, so if you can put it to a spot where you can get there, you’re going to have the confidence that he’s going to be there. And if you don’t get there first, take the body and the second guy will get the puck. Like I said, it’s going back to the basics but it works.

On bringing confidence to Toronto… We still have a lot of confidence. I think the momentum is still on our side right now even though they won. We had a good pushback and we’re going to take that push back and hopefully have a good first five minutes up there in Toronto and go from there.

On getting to the Stanley Cup finals… Yeah, that’d be huge. I mean obviously that’s the goal in the grand scheme of things, but right now we need to beat Toronto in game six.

On playing heavy on his line… It’s huge, yeah. We’re not the biggest guys, but we’re big enough to be a force out there. It’s not necessarily getting the biggest hits, but it’s having smart hits, taking them off the puck, and just making them think twice before they turn up with the pucks. They know that we’re going to be on them. I think it’s very important, it worked a couple times tonight.

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN ZDENO CHARA On the challenges Toronto balancing out their lines posed tonight… They changed a little bit of their lineup but we were trying to obviously focus on our game and just keep rolling the pairs, we can’t be worrying about what the other team is going to do as far as changing personnel with their lines.

On why coach was mixing up the defense pairs so much… As far as that when games are going like that - with so many power plays and special teams - the pairs get a little mixed up and it’s just a part of the game. We have obviously one defenseman playing on the first unit, sometimes one, sometimes two defensemen on the second unit. Right there the shifts are lining up you have to work with different guys but we’ve been used to doing that for many years on this team, so that’s not a problem. We’re used to each other, playing with each other.

On whether the lack of clean breakouts early in the game was more Boston’s or Toronto’s play… Definitely we could’ve done a better job for sure and we’re probably going to look at it again tomorrow and be better next game.

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN CHARLIE MCAVOY On Toronto’s game being strong from the get-go… Yeah, we knew they were going to play that way. Shame on us for not coming out better – having a better first ten minutes there. We knew they were going to come like that, their backs are against the wall, and they’re going to continue to come like that so we got to go back and make sure we’re prepared to start the next game.

On what contributed to tonight’s loss… I mean, we ended up getting 40 plus shots, I think we had 45 shots so we were getting the puck to the net. He made some saves there, especially in the third period, some chances that we had that could have went in. So I felt like we could have tied it up, a lot of guys in here think that, but no sense in hanging our heads on that, we’re still up in the series and we’re in a good position and we just need to, you know, refocus here, take away the good, assess the bad and be ready to go for game six.

On why the Bruins started the game off slowly… Oh, no, not particular. We knew they were going to come out hard. We just got to match that intensity and, you know, a couple good bounces for them, couple good plays and we’re down two-nothing early so we got to assess that, but we’ll be fine, we’re as confident as ever in here. I thought we really held the play starting there when Backs [David Backes] got us on the board in the second all the way through the end of the third I thought that we carried the play and the shots, you know, definitely showed that and we’re fine. We have positives we can pull from this game, we’re going to be fine for game six.

On the challenges that were brought by the Maple Leafs changing up their lines… I mean, whatever they throw out there we know that we can play against it so all six D, all four lines, we know that we can put anybody out there and play against whoever it may be we feel confident with the guys we have in this locker room, and that’s going to continue to, you know, to stay that way.

On the matchups tonight… I think that’s because we don’t feel, you know, Butchy [Bruce Cassidy] says that we’re not going to get married to matchups, everybody can play against everybody, so we know that we trust each other, basically. When guys are out there regardless of the matchup, whoever’s line they have verse whatever D pair with the forwards, we can play against them so we’re not going to rush off the ice and risk giving up a, you know, maybe a scoring chance off of a bad change just to get a matchup out there we know we can play against whoever is out there. So we try and get our matchups but at the same time we realize that, hey, we can play against whoever we’re up there against, so we’re going to be fine, we’ll go back to the drawing board and we’ll be good to go for game six.

On what went through his mind when Tuukka Rask got pulled… Not a good effort by us. I mean, that’s not indicating of how he played, um, you know, a couple unfortunate goals there, some odd mans, that second goal I gotta turn around and try to get my stick in that position where that puck is and it was unfortunate that it got by me so I got to watch that and I got to be better on those matchups. Definitely not his fault tonight, so whenever he gets pulled we know that we didn’t do our job, but we’re fine, he’s got our back and we’ve got his. So, we’ll go back to the drawing board and we’re going to play a lot better in front of him next

game. Start from the beginning, not just picking up in the second and third and playing good once he’s already out of there and the damage is done, we’re going to come out and play a lot better starting from the get-go.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD SEAN KURALY On the outcome of tonight’s game… No obviously we were trying to give it our best. Obviously every night that’s what we try to do and we wanted it to be over tonight but that’s not the way it went and we’re going to have to go back to Toronto and put our best foot forward and try to play our best game in a couple of days here.

On what in particular didn’t go well for the team tonight … I thought they [the power play] got a lot of chances, a lot of them were rattling around in there, a couple posts off of tips and things that just weren’t going in tonight. We had a ton of shots, they had a lot of good grade-A chances on the power play. Obviously a couple of goals early that we would like to have back and we realize that if we keep it out of our net and keep the game close we think we can come back in a lot of those games so that was kind of the deal in the end there going into the third and second.

On his line getting a couple goals tonight… I think we just tried to keep it simple. We knew our team just needed some energy and the goals were just a byproduct of us trying to play the right way and sometimes they don’t go in but tonight they did. Obviously a couple great plays from some guys but we’re just trying to play the right way and create some energy and tonight a couple went in.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK POSTGAME On if he feels the line changes paid off… I don’t know how much the line changes paid off, I just know that our guys were engaged. We got off to a really good start. Our penalty kill was great. We were shorthanded, I don’t know, six times, five on three, so that was great. Our goaltender was good. We got the early lead and we were able to hold on. Obviously, you’d like to not have all those penalties and have more time in the offensive zone riding on them, but it was a big win for our team.

On gaining momentum from saves on the penalty kill… Well anytime you’re shorthanded six times, it was six times, I don’t know if you noticed… and once for 5 on 3. It was ridiculous and so your goalie’s going to be under the gun. I thought our penalty killers did a good job and I thought Freddie did a good job. The hardest part for us was we couldn’t get anybody on the ice. They just sat there and froze to death. Half the group was dying, and half the group had it easy.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS GOALTENDER FREDERIK ANDERSON On how they pulled out a win… Yeah, I think we just battled. Seemed like they got good pressure, the crowd was going, so it was a lot of fun out there, obviously, pulling the win out.

On his own performance… Yeah, just trying to make the next save. We all want to keep the series going and take it back to Toronto.

On if he likes facing so many shots… Yeah, I mean, sometimes in different games, there’s different opportunities - I’d put it into a category like that. I think it’s just a matter of being prepared for every shot and yeah, seemed like they got some crazy bounces on those goals, but we were able to answer and get the momentum back when they scored.

On killing off so many penalties… Yeah, it definitely keeps you in the zone and we did a hell of a job battling on those. You never want to go down 5-on-3 for that long, but we worked hard on making sure they didn't get too much, and, yeah, those can be huge momentum swings, too, for our side.

On the performance of Ron Hainsey… Yeah, I mean, it seems like he can just keep going, like you said, and he’s the leader. He’s so calm and a veteran presence in the locker room, as well, and, yeah, he logs a big amount of minutes.

On the team’s confidence after getting the first goal… Yeah, it seems like it’s been pretty important in the series, so far, especially on the road. We wanted to come off with a good start, and I thought that line and Brownie [Connor Brown] and Hymie [Zach Hyman] made a good play on that goal and got skating and went to the net hard.

On responding to Boston’s goal… Yeah, in playoffs, that’s huge, and we’ve got to be able to respond…we’ve got to just keep playing with the waves.

On moving past Game 2… It was a long time ago, and we just want to battle for each other. I think we want to play for each other in this locker room for a long time, and it was fun to be able to step up.

TORONTO MAPLES LEAFS FORWARD CONNOR BROWN On the last minute-and-a-half of the game… They were coming hard, they wanted to tie it up. I think maybe we were playing a little bit too much on our heels it’s important to keep going to get them, keep playing in their end, they were breaking out a little easier than we would’ve liked but at the end of the day we had a gutsy win down the stretch and it’s a real momentum builder.

On the message on the bench in the second period as his team kept getting called for penalties… When most penalties come there are only certain guys that are playing so it’s important for the guys that aren’t out there killing to try and stay in it. You try to take the momentum from the kill and carry that over but we were obviously in the box way too much. Freddie [Anderson] was unbelievable for us on the kill and I thought we took a step forward on the kill as well.

On the confidence gained from scoring a goal, moving up a line and killing a 5-on-3…

Yeah it was a good game, I felt comfortable. I played with that line before so I didn’t think there was much in the way of getting to know each other, to get that goal early made us feel good too. I think all four lines played good and I think that was our strength tonight, we played wave after wave.

On whether he thought the referees were intimidated by the crowd… I don’t know about intimidated, credit to them they were making calls when they thought they saw penalties. They had the guts to make the calls, it’s harder to call penalties with all the intensity it’s easier to let them go in the playoffs when it could mean so much. Our penalty kill stood strong and Freddie stood on his head.

On how important tonight’s start was in setting the tone… Absolutely, that was important for us. We went out and got those two goals, we kept pressing and kept pressing we were coming and we were playing in their end and that’s what you got to do.

On losing in Toronto when Boston was missing Patrice Bergeron and then doing the opposite in Boston… Yeah well you got to look forward right, there’s no sense and no good in looking back. We had a really gutsy win here on the road in a real hostile building and we’re going back to the ACC where we love to play. Our fans are going to be excited so right now we’re all just listening to game 6.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS FORWARD TYLER BOZAK On how they survived the penalties… Well it starts with Freddie back there. Whenever you are shorthanded, what was it eight times? Your goalie got to be your best penalty killer and he was our best player tonight, so I think it starts right there.

On the Maple Leafs response in Game 5… Yeah, you know we got one and we were lucky enough to get the next shift. We knew it was a big one for our team and then James made a great play and Mo made a great play to me, so it was nice to get that one. And then our power play started kind of clicking lately, unfortunately not getting too many opportunities on it but we made it count when we got the opportunity tonight.

On the mindset on the bench after so many penalties… Yeah, you know, stay focused. Don’t get too frustrated. Our penalty kill has done a great job all year and they showed why again tonight, and you know that was huge for us. I thought we did a pretty good job 5 on 5. Obviously, it is a tough building to come in and win, especially when you’re killing penalties the whole night but it was a really good effort by us and just excited to get back home and have another game.

On what was going through his head during the five on three… Just hoping they don’t score. With the talent they have out there on five on three, especially they’re going to get chances and they have guys who can put the puck in the net and again I think our killers and Freddie stood on his head for us.

On how important fans are back at the Air Canada Centre… Yeah, it plays a big factor. Obviously, momentum swings in a game and their fans were really loud and they have been all series and so are ours, so we are just really excited to play another game at home here.

On if fans were intimidating the officials… No, I don’t think so. I thought a lot of those were pretty good calls. Just it is frustrating when you got to be short that many times and for guys who don’t penalty kill they aren’t getting on the ice as much and it can be frustrating. But to pull it off the way we did it, it feels good.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS FORWARD NAZEM KADRI On if the outcome was ever in doubt… A little bit nerve racking but that’s maturity I think. We’ve come a long way since last year and we were able to weather the storm. Playoff games on the road, sometimes you just have to survive and it’s a good road win.

On why it was so hard to stop the pressure the Bruins were bringing… Well I mean we took 8 minors, 9 minors that certainly doesn’t help us. Even if they don’t score on the power play it creates momentum and they come wave after wave so it’s tough sometimes when you can’t stay out of the box but what’s done is done.

On the play of Frederik Andersen tonight… Freddy [Frederik Andersen] was great. He was great. We needed him to be huge for us tonight and he made some incredible saves and ultimately gave us a chance.

On what was done once things started going the Bruins way… Yeah I mean we just kept saying to ourselves that we were up a goal in the third period on the road, if you would have written that up at the beginning of the game we would take it 10 times out of 10, so we just had to stay calm. Freddy [Frederik Andersen] was our backbone. We did a great job winning some faceoffs, winning some battles down the stretch and we were able to get the job done.

On if memories of the 2015 collapse started creeping into his head… Not really. That’s in the past and I think it’s about time that we just turn the page on that one.

On what he thought about the mixing up of the lines… Well depth. Depth is our key and I think that’s what has given us success the whole year and we were able to get contributions out of each and every single line, each and every matchup that we go through so down the stretch to hang onto the lead we changed them up a little bit but it worked out.

On the way the game was officiated…

It was a little bit frustrating. Maybe a little loose but we did take some undisciplined penalties that we did deserve. But just the lopsided minors, I mean you would like to see it a little bit tighter but we did that to ourselves.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS FORWARD AUSTON MATTHEWS On how they pulled out a win… We obviously got off to a really good start. Then, we got into penalty trouble, and that’s going to kill a lot of momentum. They’re going to get a lot of opportunities and kind of get that momentum shift, so we’ve got to get out of the box, but other than that, I thought that first period, we were really good, really dominant.

On the performance of goaltender Frederik Andersen… He played unbelievable. The pressure’s on them to close out the series, and he came up big for us, as well as a lot of other guys.

On how the team stayed calm late in the game… Just do things right, not get run around in panic mode, just keep things tight and do what we can do. So, we work on it all the time, and obviously [had] some big blocks, big plays at the end to keep the puck out of the net.

On the penalties… It’s tough, and just mad that you want to be out there, obviously, so it’s tough, but you’ve just got to get yourself ready for whenever you go out there.

On the frustration of getting so many penalties… Yeah, just got to stay out of the box. Some of those are kind of self-inflicted, but some of them are also, I don’t know, 50-50 I guess, but the refs are going to call what they call, and we’ve got to do a better job.

On the performance of Nazem Kadri… I mean, he’s a big part of our team, so we like to have him in the lineup. We don't want him out, so he’s a good player for us, and he made an unbelievable play for tonight, and he played well.

On playing with Connor Brown and Zach Hyman… I thought we got pucks back. You know, Brownie is extremely good at that, good under sticks, and I guess, kind of sneaking up on guys and stealing pucks, so like I said before, I played with him, and we’ve got some good chemistry. We’re familiar with each other. You know, Hymie — been with him all the time, so we kind of know each other and it created some offense tonight.

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY PREGAME On Patrice Bergeron… He looked good this morning. He was fine pregame skate, so I anticipate he’ll play, but we will make that decision after warm-up, but it is looking good.

On playing in an elimination game… Well if they watched games last night, which we did address, we try to stick to the game in front of us but two teams that went to the Stanley Cup Final last year couldn’t close out. So, it’s difficult. We talked about how it’s hard to win in this league. It’s especially hard to win in the playoffs. I think they are aware of it. Hopefully they don’t over think it, just go out and play and play the we need to need to play and to have success.

On if Riley Nash’s role changes when he plays on different lines… Well he’s got more dynamic wingers. No disrespect to Danton and David [Backes] but they just are who they are. Pasta [David Pastrnak] and Marchand, so you want to get the puck to those guys as much as possible. Their speed will allow them to anticipate certain plays, so Riley is a little more of a safety valve like Bergy at times for quick strike plays or transition. So, I think he will definitely think that way when the other guys are more of a straight line as a linear attack. But at the end of the day, overall, no. Two hundred-foot game. Be good in the faceoff circle, probably playing against a good player. Do your job defensively and add some offense and that’s it.

On switching defense pairs early in Game 4…. We got scored on. That’s what happened to really be honest with you. I just thought that maybe that balancing pairs on the road in case we got stuck with a bad matchup, at the end of the day. Grzelcyk was coming back from with a bit of an injury and, you know, put him with Kevin [Miller], they have had good success and Torey with McQuaid was just a gut instinct move to have a little bit better balance.

On if he liked the result after switching defense pairs… After that I did. We didn’t get scored on and if that had anything to do with that I don’t know but at the end of the day, that’s part of it. Get their attention. We need to tighten up a little bit I thought in game 3 in Toronto they were out there victimized a little bit, Krug and Miller, so maybe just needed a break.

On an explanation of the icing non-call in Game 4… I never really got one, which, listen, you can argue over whether it was the correct call or not. I just thought it was a dangerous hit on Charlie [McAvoy], because I think he is thinking it is icing. And that’s where I have a problem with those calls. Well, I guess, looking at it after he did waive it off like not at the very last second so that’s always my gripe. Waive it off early at least everyone in the rink knows what’s going on and we can argue about it later. I just thought it was clearly an icing. The way they play and stretch, that if they don’t execute we should get the face off in the other end most of the time and at least force them to pay the price if we are defending them well. That was my beef with them because I thought there has been a couple of them through the course of the playoffs, where we didn’t get the call and I thought we were there first. I think honestly, I talked to one of the refs in between periods before we went on the ice was that, you know, the offside call is the same as the icing call, the arm up of the linesman, so sometimes when they waive off, the other linesman doesn’t know if he’s waiving offside or icing and then, by the time they figure it out well its too late. Game on. So that was kind of my issue with that. So, if they could sort through it with the linesmen, what are you waiving off. Are you waiving off the offside and then calling icing or are you waiving off the icing altogether?

On if the referees were letting the guys play in the last two games… Yeah, I don’t think there was anything egregious out there to be honest with you. I think there always a call either way that you can look at the call. A couple of trips here or there, but I thought the officials for the most part allowed the teams to play and not just swallow their whistles. I didn’t see the teams mugging each other or taking liberties. That’s the way I saw it. I think during the year, Toronto is pretty disciplined in terms of how many penalties they take and I thought we were pretty good at staying out of the box as well. So I think it’s the prerogatives of two teams who try to play the right way and not get involved in a whole lot of stuff after the whistle.

On Jake DeBrusk’s growth throughout these playoffs… Well, I thought Jake played his best hockey up there – a tough environment in Toronto. Was more physical on pucks. His forecheck presence was real good and he had his legs. So now it’s more, I think you’re seeing it more, that Jake wants and is more comfortable or demanding or asking for the puck from Krejci now – getting into good spots, expecting him to get the puck. So, he’s kind of gotten over that. I don’t want to say you’re in awe of those guys, but you know how it is. Young guys at first want to please the older guys who skate on their line. It’s normal. We went through it with Bjork for a little bit, so that’s kind of the way it works for a while. So now, I think he’s past that and just wants to play his game – if it’s time to shoot and ask for the puck, then he will; and if it’s time to make a play, then he will. Others have gone a good job, and Rick’s finding his way over there on the other side, so they’ve been close. Obviously, they got a big goal for us the other night. We needed secondary scoring, so I’d anticipate things are going to go their way offensively sooner rather than later just because of the volume of chances they’re generating.

On a number two defensive pairing… I wouldn’t classify it as that. I think they can all play, especially on the road, that’s part of it. We’ve talked about not chasing matchups, especially against Toronto. In the second period, you’re going to get screwed sooner or later on coming to the bench and guys jumping over and between. So at the end of the day, I think they both bring something – Adam and Kevan are similar, and Griz and Torey are playing a similar game. Now, they’re at different levels in their career, I get all that, but at the same time they complement each other as pairs. So for me, no, I don’t…you know, we trust all six and maybe if one’s having a better night than the other you might see a little bit more, but for the most part, especially against Toronto… I mean they have three lines that can score and they’ve got a fourth line that’s got some speed and skill, so we’ve got to make sure we don’t get sort of locked in to these matchups. Yeah, Zee and Charlie are going to play against generally other team’s top line or who is the most dangerous, and they’ve done a good job against [Auston] Matthews, but they can’t play against every line.

On finding balance throughout the game, especially in the second period… Well that’s part of it. Listen, at the start of the year, it’s easier said… now we talked about these younger guys can play against anybody. You know, we don’t hard-line match and we haven’t all year. Part of it is, it’s a coach’s philosophy and it is part of the growth of the players. We put them in spots and we trust them to be able to do their job. If they can’t, we have to find a new player, generally speaking, or we have to get them up to speed. Right? Those are your choices. And I think that’s helped their confidence for this time of year. Clearly, we want to get the most advantageous matchup, but by the same token, we want guys to be able to play. We got stuck with Griz and Krug on the ice there once in the second period the other night. I asked Kevin [Dean] how the hell that happened because they’re both lefty, but anyway, we got through it. But that’s not ideal. You know, we want to the complement and guys who are strong sides whenever possible. Like I said, we ended up raking the puck out, but that wasn’t perfect. But for the most part, we’ve been pretty good at identifying who is out against who and having some level of success.

On evaluating David Krejci’s play last game… Well, I think he’s a guy who has been there, so can rise up and elevate his game. When he doesn’t, sometimes it can be frustrating. You want him to be at that level all the time, which is a big ask, but at the end of the day, he’s got speed on his wings now and that’s all we’re asking him to do now is be mindful of that, use it. If they’re going to tighten up and have tight gaps, then you got to play behind them at times. And he has the wingers to do it, so he’s a guy that has had success in the playoffs. So, you don’t want to tell him how to play the game, but understand what the other team is doing and try to educate him on how to make good decisions and how he can use his wingers to the best of his ability. But at the end of the day, he made a big play that put the game away, so kudos to him, and how did it start? It started with him blocking a shot… he recovered the puck and created space for himself.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK PREGAME On balancing the lines to generate more offence… Obviously, that's a huge priority for us. [Kadri] being back changes things for us. I haven't decided which centre is going to play on which line, to tell you the truth, on a few of them. By game time tonight we'll know, see how guys are going in the first five minutes and go from there. Obviously, Naz is an important player for us and good to have him back.

On scoring the first goal as a priority… It's a good idea. We tried to do it 82 times in the regular season and four times so far. Sometimes it doesn't go, so I don't think you put all your eggs in one basket, but you want to start on time and you want to play well and you want to score the first goal. Last game, the first shift, tough way to start. It took us about five minutes to get going after that, but we got going real good and got the game even and were playing pretty well. The priority tonight, the first 10 minutes, without any question. They're going to come home here and they jumped pretty good last time we were in here in their building. We've got to be prepared.

On if he intends to put Matthews and Nylander on separate lines… Well, I'm starting like that for sure.

On if he's trying to make the decision to line-match against Matthews more difficult… They're going to match against [Matthews] so I don't think that's a tougher decision. I think it's just the way it is. The bottom line is it wasn't going, we've got to change something and try to get it going. Now, in saying that, if you go through the games, the games have been real tight. Except for the one that got away in Game Two, they've been tight right through the second period. It's not like there's a lot of change, if you're right in the game, things have been going pretty good. But, the bottom line is we're not scoring enough and we need to score.

On if he coaches differently in elimination games… I don't think so, I think we try to keep normalcy the best we possibly can. In saying that, they know and I know the situation. We've got to dig in. To me, next level. The competition level and the execution -- and I thought our competition level was fine last game, the execution has got to be there the whole time. You've got to find ways to get to the net on a regular basis and score some goals. We have to create more offence, that's the bottom line.

#04/21/18#