"You have to do it together as a team. We'll need five guys to help out tonight and really be on the right side of things. They have some elite defensemen over there who can really get up the ice. A lot of their offense comes from that. Stay above those guys and beat them up the ice, and we have to have a five-man unit in our own zone doing the job tonight."
"The compete and physicality have been good. I didn't think we broke the puck out well enough as the game went along (in Buffalo). We botched some breakouts and didn't advance it quickly enough to get out of our zone at times."
"They're proving themselves. They're playing hard. It brings a lot of energy to our group. You can hear it on the bench. The guys are cheering them on. It is nice to have that youth in there and the energy. They've been doing a good job."
"He has. I wasn't sure, with the minutes he is playing, how he is going to handle it, but he seems to handle it well. And it's in all situations. I've put him in some pretty difficult situations in the defensive zone, on faceoffs, and on a number of different things. He has done really nice job on the penalty kill."
The Maple Leafs travel to Minnesota for a Sunday night matchup against the Wild, a team struggling with three losses in four games. Coach Craig Berube emphasizes the importance of team defense, particularly with Ekman-Larsson absent due to his newborn. The team must stay disciplined defensively and prevent the Wild's elite defensemen from generating offense. Berube highlights recent improvements in compete and physicality over consecutive games but notes breakout execution needs refinement. Recent call-ups have energized the lineup with their hard work and youth, while Bo Groulx has impressed Berube with his versatility and performance across all situations, including penalty kill duties.
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