Maple Leafs’ Tavares, Berube sound off on Zub’s overtime hit
John Tavares and Craig Berube didn’t mince words when asked about the hit that forced the Toronto Maple Leafs forward to miss part of overtime in Game 4.
TORONTO — A year after the Toronto Maple Leafs saw their playoff hopes undone by key absences at the worst possible times, it was precisely the type of image to make the blue-and-white faithful’s stomachs churn: John Tavares splayed out on the ice, head in his hands, in clear discomfort as the seconds ticked off the clock in overtime.
The Maple Leafs and Senators were knotted at 3-3, each team hunting for the winner that would swing the series wildly one way or another — either ending Ottawa’s season in a four-game sweep, or planting a seed of doubt in Toronto’s mind.
Thirty seconds into the extra winner-take-all frame, Artem Zub posted up in front of the Senators’ net as Tavares cut through the right circle. The Maple Leafs veteran floated towards the slot, his eyes on William Nylander, who was miles away carrying the puck into the corner — and then Zub stepped up, caught Tavares with an elbow to the head, and put him on the ice.
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No. 91 sat doubled over on the bench before being removed from the game for a lengthy spell. Returning to practice Monday, after getting in some early work whipping pucks on net alongside Max Pacioretty, Tavares confirmed he was pulled from Game 4 by the concussion spotters.
Asked about the sequence that sent him down the tunnel, the former captain didn’t mince words.
“I don’t think I really need to explain it, I think it’s pretty obvious what happened on the play — the puck’s nowhere near me,” Tavares said Monday from the locker room at the Maple Leafs’ practice facility in Etobicoke, Ont. “But you just move on from it, go out there and keep competing, and trust that the refs are going to make the right calls.”
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His head coach echoed the sentiment.
“I don’t like the hit,” Berube said after Monday’s skate. “The puck’s nowhere near him. It looked like a headshot to me.”
Mitch Marner, meanwhile, was left wondering why Zub didn’t get a turn in the box for the infraction.
“That’s a tough one — you know, interested to see why nothing gets called on that,” Marner said. “But that’s sometimes how the play goes. Lucky enough, Johnny’s fine and ready to go, so that’s all that matters.”
There’s no mystery surrounding why No. 91 would be a potential target for opposing bruisers. Through four games, Tavares leads the Maple Leafs with three goals to his name. He’d scored one earlier in Game 4, before the overtime incident, deflecting home a point shot from Nylander late in the opening frame to spur Toronto’s comeback.
“He was really good,” Berube said of how the 34-year-old was playing on Saturday night before the collision with Zub. “Just look at the effort, the puck battles. I mean, he’s done a lot of good things, really good things, all year long and in the playoffs here.”
The Maple Leafs felt Tavares’ absence acutely just a few minutes after he was knocked out of the tilt, when an errant high stick gifted Toronto a four-minute power play in overtime. A golden chance to close things out for any club, but an even more favourable one for this group — through Games 1-3, Toronto’s five-forward top unit had lit up the Senators’ penalty killers, tallying five times on nine opportunities.
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But with the series on the line, and Tavares unavailable, Berube had to switch things up.
“I had no idea there was a power play,” Tavares said. “I was obviously pulled out, and I had to go through the protocol.”
In his place, Morgan Rielly took up his former spot, anchoring the four-man group of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Matthew Knies. The swap sapped the unit of the quick-thinking dynamism that’s been on full display throughout this first-round bout, bringing back the stolid, overly-cautious approach that the Maple Leafs faithful know well from post-seasons past.
Not long after the power-play wrapped up, empty-handed, Tavares was released back to the bench. A few minutes after that, Jake Sanderson wired one in from the point to send the series back to Toronto.
“I thought we created a lot of great chances,” Marner said of the overtime man-advantage. “You know, sometimes it’s not going to fall your way. That’s what happens, that’s how the game goes sometimes. You’ve just got to figure out ways that you can be better.”
“We had a couple opportunities on that power play where we could’ve ended it,” Berube added. “Matthews hits the post, a couple other good looks. Yeah, that’s the difference in the game, probably. … But we’ve moved on from it. We’ve got to focus on tomorrow. We can’t look back at the past.”
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Most important for these Leafs in the here and now was the sight of Tavares back at practice Monday, seemingly no worse for wear after the trip through concussion protocol two nights ago, aside from a sore jaw. The club was missing two other regular contributors at the session, though, with Matthews off the ice for a rest day and Joseph Woll “under the weather,” per the coach. The captain is expected back in the lineup for Game 5 at Scotiabank Arena, where the focus will be on a simple message.
“We just have to keep getting better,” said Tavares of how Toronto closes this series out on Tuesday night. “I think obviously we were right there, did a lot of good things — but we know that there’s more. More to give, areas to clean up and be better.
“Just [need] to be aggressive and really go out there and enjoy it, have some fun with the opportunity to close it out at home.”
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The Leafs will host the Senators in Game 5 on Tuesday. Watch the game at 7 p.m. ET on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
