Maple Leafs HC makes thoughts extremely clear about Nick Cousins' knee-on-knee collision with debutant Jacob Quillan

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube made his thoughts clear on Nick Cousins' knee-on-knee collision with Leafs debutant Jacob Quillan during the team's 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

In the first period, Cousins and Quillan collided knee-on-knee while battling for position in the neutral zone. Both players crashed to the ice in pain and needed assistance getting to the locker room.

Quillan was able to return to action later in the game; however, Cousins did not return as he was unable to put any weight on his left leg upon exiting.

When asked about the incident after the game, Craig Berube said:

"That was a tough hit. I didn’t understand how they missed that. To me, that is a knee all day long. He was fine. It is a tough game for him to play. It got tight, so I didn’t give him a lot down the stretch, but for me, he was fine. "(per mapleleafshotstove.com)

As for Cousins, Senators head coach Travis Green confirmed he will miss time due to the knee injury.

"Just an unfortunate play," Travis Green said."Two guys hit each other, knee on knee."

Shane Pinto and Tim Stutzle scored for the Senators, while Bobby McMann scored for the Leafs.

Craig Berube's take on the Maple Leafs' 2-1 loss to the Senators

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube was disappointed with the 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators, feeling his team missed too many scoring chances.

"We had a lot of opportunities that we didn’t put in the net.I think that is the difference,"Berube lamented after the game. "The team played hard. We were ready to go. I thought we did a lot of good things except score."

Berube praised his team's defensive effort against a talented Senators squad.

"They defended hard. The guys dug in. We were physical in our puck battles and did a good job. That is a good team over there. We know that. They have a lot of talent. We just have to stick with it."

Despite the loss, Berube remained optimistic, adding:

"If you play hockey like that, you are going to win a lot of games. In the end,we just didn’t score enough."

The Maple Leafs will look to bounce back when they next face the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.