A familiar foe joined Leafs Morning Take on Thursday with Nick Alberga and David Pagnotta, as Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green hopped on in the wake of Wednesday’s disastrous Game 5 for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Following the blowout loss, it’s hard to know what to say about this team and their effort, especially if they’re under your direction. On Thursday’s show, Green gave credit to Craig Berube for how he handled media Wednesday night with his group now facing elimination.

“I like the way Chief spoke after the game,” Green said. “Not hiding the fact that they didn’t have a good game, but it happens. And the biggest thing for Chief now is just to get his team ready to play next game.”

Green and Berube took the reins of Ontario’s two franchises last May, and previously faced each other through their NHL careers decades ago. Green is quite familiar with Berube’s direct approach, and talked about what it means to build that relationship with your group when taking over behind the bench, and how it can benefit this Leafs team if they have any hope of bouncing back on the road.

“Each coach is different,” Green said. “For me personally, that starts in the regular season. You don’t just all of a sudden start being honest with your team in the playoffs. It’s a bit of a built relationship. The sooner they can get over that game, the better, because you don’t have a lot of time to turn around and get ready to play the next game.”

Meanwhile, the Core Four continues to be the talk of the town, as they were held without a point for a second straight game. It’s an issue that seems to come up every year in the playoffs: when the pressure builds, Toronto’s stars collapse. There’s no denying their talent, but they need to learn to rise to the occasion.

“It’s no secret that you’ve heard about the Core Four for a long time now, and they’re very lucky that they have four great players like that,” Green said. “But when you’re a good player, pressure comes with it, like any team in the league. And that’s part of pro sport.”

With the dust now settled on the Battle of Ontario, Green also took the time to reflect on his group’s first-round exit at the hands of Toronto.

“It still stings to be honest,” Green said. “The Leafs series was very close, and could have gone either way. That’s the hard part of playoff hockey, and that’s a learning experience for ourselves, for our players, for our coaching staff. But it leaves a mark when you want to win so badly that you can taste it.”

Facing the prospect of elimination in Game 6 Friday, the Leafs must confront that the same fate to which they sentenced the Senators awaits them unless they kick it into high gear. It’s up to Toronto to decide how bad they want to win, and they’ll have to make their minds up quick.