Mike Babcock’s post-game comments after a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins to clinch the Mape Leafs’ first playoff berth since 2013.
Babcock: I’ve got no more on Freddy. We’ll know more tomorrow. Ideally, he’ll start tomorrow.
It’s not so long since you said there’d be pain. There was a lot of excitement tonight. How are you feeling?
Babcock: Well, I mean, I’m proud of the guys. I’m excited for the guys. They’ve done a real good job. I told the coaches at the start of the year that if we got in it was going to be tomorrow in game #82. I thought it we’d really have to crawl in at the end. We got in one game ahead of schedule. But, to be honest with you, I didn’t know the kids could be this good. We still showed our inexperience. I thought we started real good. I thought we were on it good, and then as soon as something goes wrong, we’re tight again. We got away from our game a little bit, but a big win for our team, obviously. I thought Mac made some big saves down the stretch, especially on Crosby there. A good win for our city and for our loyal fan base. I think, for them, as much as getting in the playoffs is important for them, they see the future has an opportunity to have a chance to be a good team. You look at a team like Tampa. Tampa has all of those injuries and they’re deep enough to still play. If we had those injuries, we wouldn’t have a sniff. Ideally, a couple of years from now, we’ll be good enough to get in even if we have injuries.
Was the message in the second intermission any different?
Babcock: Just, “let’s play. Let’s play. We’re a good team. Let’s play, and do w hat we do, and go after them.” I think we’ll be better tomorrow, to be honest with you, even though it’s back-to-back just because our guys will be looser again. When you’re a good pro and you’ve been around a long time and you get used to winning, the big games make you better. When you’re a kid, the big games sometimes make you nervous.
Was Freddy pulled as a precaution?
Babcock: I told you. There’s no report. They don’t tell me anything.
What were you thinking on the bench when that happened?
Babcock: Let’s not let them out of their zone. But I thought Mac did a good job. Mac’s been good. I thought Mac had to make some big saves there at the end. He wasn’t called on to make a tonne, but he was called on to make some big ones, and sometimes that’s tougher. In a big game, that’s important to our players and our team and our city as well. I wouldn’t talk about it before, but that’s a big deal for these kids. They live on these [cell phones] and they know what everyone thinks, and how excited everyone was. No one has talked to me in my building since I moved here for two years. People have been talking to me every single second for the last week, so… it must be a big deal.
Tomorrow’s game still has an impact on the standings. How are you approaching it?
Babcock: We’re going to try to win the game. It’s important for us. It makes no difference in their life, but we’ve got to come out and play right and get prepared and play as hard as we possibly can. They had a back-to-back, too. It’s different than ours, obviously, just because they’ve been sitting and having dinner and watching the game, but it’s still a back-to-back. We’ll prepare and play hard.
Auston Matthews scored his 40th today. How do you put into perspective his accomplishments this season?
Babcock: Obviously, he’s a good player. I think we have a lot of good players. I thought William Nylander was fantastic tonight, really played well. We have a lot of good players. Hyman and Brown and Zaistev, you go through the whole group. Obviously, he’s a special talent, but more important than that, he’s a special person. That’s going to allow him to be a real leader because he does it right every day. In the end, that will drive a franchise and allow it to win. I think he’s a real good player and a real good man, and has a chance to be special.
At any point tonight, did you sense any doubt?
Babcock: We talked about that a number of times on the bench. Just settle down and play. Settle down and play. There was no reason not to. You know going into the game — just because of the way their lineup was — that the kids who were called up are going to work. They’re flat-out going to work. Sometimes it’s better to play all of those guys that are playing because those guys don’t want to get bumped into. They don’t want to get hurt for the playoffs. I’ve been on that other side a whole bunch. You’re trying not to get bumped into, and trying to win the game on the power play. A good win for our team. A good win for our city. I’m excited for our guys.
