The heavy Leafs trio that just validated Berube's entire system
Photo credit: Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
With a dominant 4-1 victory over Florida, it was the Maple Leafs' third line that really impressed Craig Berube, and it may have just validated his entire philosophy.
Tuesday night's must-see game between Florida and Toronto was a game that had a ton of eyes on it given how both teams are currently sitting in the standings, and the sting of last year's playoffs still fresh in the minds of Leafs Nation.
But they came out swinging and didn't let up, playing a solid and complete game for a full sixty minutes. They got contributions from everyone, were disciplined, and for the second straight game they felt like the Maple Leafs of old.
Craig Berube has to feel a bit more relieved now that his team is playing how he wants, and after the game took the time to credit one line that's truly started pulling their weight.
Validating the 'Berube Identity' against a top opponent
Post-game, Berube talked to reporters about the team's 4-1 win and credited the team's third line of Nicolas Roy, Dakota Joshua, and Bobby McMann with leading the charge recently and showing that his system can work if everyone buys in.
Berube noted:
They're just on it. Joshua and McMann have been really good on the walls in our zone. Roy does a good job of being underneath and supporting.
They get the puck, and when they go down into the offensive zone, whether it is on an attack or they have to forecheck, they are heavy. They're doing a good job with their sticks.
They're on people, and then they hang onto pucks in the offensive zone. They're getting to the net and doing a good job. They've been really effective.
It's very important.
They take a lot of d-zone faceoffs. I match them up against people at times on the road. That big, heavy line really sets the tone for our team, I think.
They get the puck, and when they go down into the offensive zone, whether it is on an attack or they have to forecheck, they are heavy. They're doing a good job with their sticks.
They're on people, and then they hang onto pucks in the offensive zone. They're getting to the net and doing a good job. They've been really effective.
It's very important.
They take a lot of d-zone faceoffs. I match them up against people at times on the road. That big, heavy line really sets the tone for our team, I think.
It's great to see the new guys coming in and playing more consistently, and Joshua in particular has picked things up with three points, 17 hits, and a plus-5 rating after struggling heavily early on.
But it was the fact they came into Florida with a chip on their shoulder and played as physical and hard as they did helped to validate Berube's system. It doesn't matter if it's the best or worst team in the league, if the team follows the game plan they will find success.
We've seen it over the past two games, and with a crucial game against Carolina on Thursday, then an even bigger game against Montreal; the team can't afford to let up right now.
Why this bottom-six success puts the star players on notice
If the bottom half of the lineup is going to be contributing at a steady pace going forward, that means the stars are also going to need to keep up.
While the stars have shone this year, they will need to be even better and build off the bottom-six's momentum, but it also means they'll need to start playing with more grit.
Grit means getting into the muddier areas of the game; the board battles, forechecking, finishing hits. The stars need to start doing that more consistently, and we've seen the benefits.
We saw a perfect example of this just last week against St. Louis, when John Tavares took on three Blues players on his own against the boards.
It's those types of efforts you need from the top-tier players on the team, and just like Berube had when he coached in St. Louis; all the lines played with the same heart and grit regardless if you were Vladimir Tarasenko or Patrick Maroon.
Seeing how successful the team can be when they play hard, it puts pressure on the top names to start digging down a little deeper, and as we've seen before, that can lead to a lot of success for the Maple Leafs.
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