Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube is always looking for any edge he can get over an opponent. And as his team prepares for a second-round matchup against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Berube might have found an edge in his own locker room in the presence of Steven Lorentz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Anthony Stolarz.
All three were part of the Stanley Cup-winning Panthers last year, and all three are free to spill the beans on what makes the Panthers tick.
鈥淚’ve had discussions with them,鈥 Berube said Saturday after an optional practice. 鈥淭here are things that you might not know. More mindset stuff for me (can be learned from) those guys being in the locker room and being around the organization of the team. So, yeah, I have discussions with them about stuff.鈥
What Berube has learned and what buttons he might be able to press, he wasn’t about to say.
鈥淭hey’re just consistent,鈥 Lorentz said of the Panthers. 鈥淭hey buy into that system. They have a lot of top-end skill, a lot of depth, good defending, good goaltending. But they don’t play like individuals. They buy into the system. And it works.
鈥淭hey’re just consistent night in and night out.鈥
The inherent toll of attempting to repeat as Stanley Cup champion isn’t Florida’s only vulnerability in these Stanley Cup playoffs.
The inherent toll of attempting to repeat as Stanley Cup champion isn’t Florida’s only vulnerability in these Stanley Cup playoffs.
The three former Panthers have bigger roles with the Leafs than they did last year with Florida. Stolarz, the Leafs’ top goalie, was Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup last season, getting into one playoff game. Lorentz played 80 games for the Leafs in the regular season, but was mostly a healthy scratch with Florida. plays about 90 seconds more a game with the Leafs than he did with the Panthers.
鈥淕ood for all of them,鈥 Florida coach Paul Maurice said. 鈥淚’m happy they’ve been able to find a place where their opportunity and their input to the success of the 海角社区官网Maple Leafs is really important.鈥
There are other crossovers. Leafs defenceman Brandon Carlo was a long-time teammate of Panthers winger Brad Marchand in Boston, before both were dealt at the trade deadline this season.
鈥淚t’ll be super fun,鈥 Carlo said. 鈥淚 think it’s going to be a great challenge. I’ve obviously competed against him a lot in practice and whatnot, but in the game it’ll be a whole different thing 鈥 I hope I know a lot of his tricks at this point but we’ll see. He’s always got something up his sleeve.
鈥淗e definitely uses his stick a little bit. He’ll poke and prod you a little bit more. You’ll see as he’s going into puck battles, he likes to slash your stick out of the way a little bit. Maybe my stick will break and he’ll get a call. But other than that he’s really good at utilizing (his stick) in a different way for protecting pucks. So that’s something that he’s really good at.鈥
And of course the Leafs face Matthew Tkachuk right after seeing his brother with the Senators. Brady Tkachuk said he’s going to pass on the little things he picked up that big brother might be able to use to push a few buttons. Berube was asked if that could be an advantage for Florida.
鈥淚f you allow people to push your buttons, then maybe,鈥 Berube said. “So don’t allow them to push your buttons.
鈥淓motion plays a big part of the game. We all know that discipline and composure聽鈥β has got to be more elevated now.鈥
Two years ago, the Core Four were on thin ice. Now they’ll face the team that could have undone them.
Two years ago, the Core Four were on thin ice. Now they’ll face the team that could have undone them.
The significance, though, of the Leafs signing three players from a division rival that won the Stanley Cup should not be underplayed. It adds a layer of intrigue.
Outside of a few texts and a few chirps, there has been no communication with the current Leafs and their old pals on the Panthers.
鈥淓verybody knows what’s going on,鈥 Lorentz said. There’s that competitive side that, when you’re trying to chase that Cup down, you’re doing whatever you can, whatever it takes. And it doesn’t matter if that’s your buddy that you played with years prior together. And you’re going to finish your check. You’re going to play rough.
鈥淭here’s no prisoners in the playoffs when the Cup is on the line.鈥
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