Tavares staved off a 1-on-3 battle in overtime to get the puck to William Nylander to help the Leafs snap a five-game losing streak.
The Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a five-game losing streak after defeating the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday.
And while William Nylander's overtime goal will grab much of the highlight reel, it was John Tavares who made it happen, manging to win a puck battle along the boards against all three St. Louis Blues that were on the ice.
Tavares, sending all three players surrounding him, managed to kick the puck back to Morgan Rielly, who found Nylander, who scored a goal for the ages.
"I mentioned it to the team because that's what he's all about," Berube said of Tavares. "And that play there symbolizes John Tavares. Three on one, keeps the puck alive, you know. Morgan gets in there quickly and makes a play, and Willy does what he does.
Berube addressed his team's resilience in managing to snap out of the five-game losing streak and spoke about Matthew Knies' surprise absence due to a lower-body injury.
What stood about your team's game tonight?
"I thought we battled hard. Like, you know, guys were competitive. I thought that our checking game was pretty good for the most part throughout the game. Managed the game well. Really liked our first period. I mean, yeah, it was a lot of good. Woll was really good. And, you know, we had a lot of guys in there that, you know, are new and haven't played. But I thought they did a good job."
Things haven't been going well? What are you thinking when the first one goes in?
Well, I didn't quite get the whole play, but I mean, we put it in ourselves. It's just, you know, it's what it is. But, you know, I get it happened, but the bench was good. And the bench was like, there's good energy on the bench tonight. Real good energy. So it was good to hear guys chatter after that, and I just kept playing."
What kept Knies out of the game?
Lower body. This morning, I wasn't sure if he was going to play or not. so I told Sammy (Blais) to be ready, and he came here tonight, Knies, and couldn't go.
When did Knies get hurt?
"He's had a lingering thing for a while, and it got worse today." (Editor note: Knies missed Friday's practice for what the team said was maintenance).
What happened with the Blais
He had body contact, and then he was kind of like coughing up blood and stuff, So, had to go in.
What did you make of Troy Stecher's debut?
"Good game. Skated. Moved the puck well, competitive. All the things like we know of him. But I really liked his feet tonight. I thought he was aggressive and moved his feet really well."
What's sort of growth have you seen in (Jacob) Quillan's game since last year?
"Yeah, I thought from, well, last year to this year, a lot of growth when I saw tonight in him in the game. You know, just comfortable and confident in his play. You know, like I said, his speed is dangerous. He got behind our D a couple times. But overall, I thought he was a pretty good player for us tonight."
What did getting a win tonight mean to you, considering the five-game skid, considering the opponent?
"Yeah, for sure. It's always nice to end the skid. But when I look at the team and everything going on with the injuries and everything, it could have been easy for our guys to say, well, we're all banged up. We've got nobody. but I didn't get that at all, and our guys competed really hard tonight. I'm proud of them, the way they competed and stuck together out there for the game."
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