Craig Berube on Easton Cowan’s strong stretch drive for the Leafs: “He is emotionally invested and is doing a lot of good things… He never stops… He has that motor”

Ahead of Thursday’s game in San Jose, head coach Craig Berube discussed the challenge presented by the scorching hot Macklin Celebrini, the difficulty of manufacturing emotion at this stage of a lost season, and the play of Easton Cowan down the stretch.

They’re chanting MVP for Macklin Celebrini in San Jose. For you, is he in that conversation? Is there a way to contain him?

Berube: For sure. If you look at their team, his year, and the position they’re in, he is definitely the driver of that team. Great young talent. We all saw his ability in the Olympics at the highest level with great players. He had a great Olympics.

He has a lot of tools — skate, shoot, score, pass. He has all the tools, but for me, a kid of that age and what he is doing is right up here: He’s smart. He’s a very intelligent player. When I watch him go to the Olympics to play with a guy like McDavid, MacKinnon, and so on, and the coach keeps using him with those guys, and they want to play with him… You must have intelligence.

Everyone has to know when he is out there and understand that one guy won’t contain him. You’ve got to do it as a group — a five-man unit — out there. As much as we can, we have to make him play in his own zone.

Does playing a spoiler role for other teams enter the conversation as far as motivations at this time of year?

Berube: I don’t really talk about the spoiler role. I expect our team to play a certain way. I expect that out of every player. We talked about bringing emotion.

The emotion in the last game was already there — we know that — but today, it is not there. It’s different. For me, it is about every individual bringing the emotion. The other team has emotion and will play with it because they’re in a situation where they have to. For me, a big part of it is bringing the emotion and being invested in it.

This is a great building. Back in the day, when I’d come in here (with the Blues), it was a tough place to play. The first period was like, “Whoa, we’ve got to get out of that first period.” They’re definitely getting that attitude back here with that team.

Is there someone you lean on to manufacture that emotion for the team?

Berube: Our leaders, right? JT, Willy, Mo. The veteran guys have to bring it. When they bring it, they follow. But the young guys are bringing it. If you look at Cowan, Quillan, and Groulx, they’re up here and are invested in it. They’re proving themselves, right? The emotion is there automatically.

What is your sense of how Morgan Rielly has dealt with the team’s current situation, outside of the playoff picture?

Berube: He’s good. He handles it well, I believe. I talk to him quite a bit about it throughout the season. There is a lot of noise. But he never once, ever, said, “Wow, it is too much.” He was just, “Good. I want to play. I care about the team, and I’ll do my best.” That’s all I can go off of.

What have you made of the way Easton Cowan has attacked the stretch drive? He jumped in for William Nylander in Anaheim.

Berube: Again, he is emotionally invested and is doing a lot of good things. There are mistakes, yes, and there are things we constantly work on with him and show him on video. But he never stops. He has that motor. He knows when he’s made a mistake, and he is pretty good at recognizing it, but it is not going to stop him from trying it again.

What went into the decision to start Anthony Stolarz in San Jose?

Berube: He has a really good record here. That is a big part of it. There wasn’t a ton of reason why. We just decided to go with Stolie again tonight.

Are there any other lineup changes?

Berube: Steven Lorentz is back in, and Philippe Myers will go in for Stecher. Myers has been out for a while. I wanted to get him back in there, and I’m going to get Stevie back in there tonight, too.