Maple Leafs fully buy in with Craig Berube, win Atlantic Division

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Buffalo – Maple Leafs took their coaching tip and ran with it.

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The 2024-25 Leaf under Craig Berube is different from the past, and of course it is this core, and they are different from their determination in the way they win the hockey game.

Where will they take them in the Stanley Cup playoffs? We will soon find Ontario’s first battle since 2004, when the Leafs beat Buffalo Perlas 4-0 on Tuesday night, in a first round showdown with the Ottawa Senators.

“These guys do a great job of buying our sermons and what we want to play games,” Berube said at KeyBank Center. “That’s the biggest thing. Purchasing is everything, they put in it. It starts with our leadership group and drips. It’s the most important thing.”

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Currently, the result is the champion of the Atlantic Division, the third time since 1967 that Leaf has captured its division.

“It’s a goal to declare this in the year,” Captain Auston Matthews said. “It’s a great step for our team. It’s a tough department. It’s a good check mark for us. There’s a lot of work to do.”

We have gained from Leaf’s 51st win and Road 25th win this season, setting a franchise record:

Flash twins

It’s a team game, and Matthews and Mitch Marner will tell you that there’s no argument either.

However, Leaves have not finished their position in the department yet — in a game against Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, they can add their position without the significant contributions of Manner and Matthews.

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It would be appropriate for Manner to finally break the 100-point cap in the National Hockey League, and Matthews scored his 400th NHL goal in a game that had a big impact on the entire team.

Matthews established Marner in the third phase, a goal that Sabers Netminder Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen did not have a chance to stop.

“These achievements were not achieved by themselves,” Manner said. “Thanks to many people in that locker room, they helped me and supported me this year, did some incredible drama for me and put some into my pass.

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“The really cool thing is just the excitement of the guys at that time, seeing them excited about me. So it’s really for the experience.”

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Marner has some friends, six friends, and his brother Chris is in the building. On Monday night, Marner thought of his friend going to Buffalo, so he arranged a party bus to put them down.

“They jumped on it right away,” Mana said. “It would be cool to celebrate with them (stand up).

Marner, along with Darryl Sittler, Doug Gilmour and Matthews, became the fourth player in Leaf history, setting 100 points in one season. These three were done twice.

Matthews failed to get an empty saber net with less than two minutes left. In the game, he scored six shots.

“It means a lot,” Matthews said of his milestones. (Marner) has certainly built a lot.

“In the end, I think it’s a team achievement. It’s a team sport. There’s a lot of stuff in it. Fortunately, it’s already out of my stick.

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“It’s nice to check out something, but the focus is still on the team and do the best things for the team and continue to play a game in the best footsteps here before going on the playoffs.”

Bring a sense

It doesn’t matter, the Senators swept the Leaf in three regular season games, surpassing Toronto 9-3.

When the seven best series begins, it doesn’t matter. This will be the fifth time the Ontario competitor has encountered in the playoffs; Leafs won four previous meetings in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004. In 2004 alone, the Senators did not rule the Leaf during the regular season.

“It’ll definitely be fun,” said Leafs goalkeeper Anthony Stolarz. “They are a hungry team. They’ve been for years. I just think we have to keep doing what we’re doing right now.

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“I think we feel good about our game. It’s going to be a bloody thing, it’s going to be a war, so we’ll be ready.”

Of course, we can only imagine that Senators, who made the first playoffs since 2017, would be happy to send Leaves to another early start in the summer.

But, as we said, these are not Sheldon Keefe’s leaves. Berube emphasizes defense and determination and its success, making the leaves think in new ways.

“We can’t change what happened in the past,” Matthews said of many first-round exits. “I think you’re wearing it.

“It’s a new year, a new environment, a lot of new faces, a new coaching staff. The competitiveness we have to have, we have to focus on one group, unite and stick with the team and a shift, all of that hasn’t really changed.

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“I feel very confident in this group. We have put a lot of work into the whole season. Winning the department is a big step for us, but we just want to keep moving forward.”

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Can Strales prepare for the playoffs?

We don’t think so. He has a lockdown in three of his last four games, a continuation of the excellent goalkeeper he has been providing throughout the season.

Let Joseph Woll play Detroit and let Stolarz further prepare for Ottawa’s first match.

Is this the best hockey Storz played?

“Possibly,” Strars said. “But a lot of people are the guys in front of me. They make my job really easy.

“I just have to worry about saving the first time, if most of the time they have rebounded there. Sometimes I have to do a lot of saving. It comes with the territory, and it comes with the work.

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Matthews had this view of what Stolarz said: “It was modest for him because I feel like he’s bailed us a lot. He and Joe have provided us with a lot of savings throughout the season.”

For Matthews, Stolarz’s 35 saving performance on Buffalo is more evidence.

“It’s no different tonight,” Matthews said. “He paused some key points at our critical moments, whether it was a free throw kill, five-on-five, five-pointer, five-on-five, he was so calm and composed.

“He doesn’t seem to really get out of his position. He’s been gathered by the Internet to such confidence.”

One advantage Stolarz offers is that he rarely allows soft, deflated goals, and is definitely not the kind of advantage that puts leaves in holes or changes the outcome of the game.

If Leaf has to turn to Wolves at any time in the playoffs, then confidence should not be reduced. However, using Stolarz, set the leaves in the net.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @ @koshtorontosun

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