Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team’s 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night, improving the Leafs’ record to 16-14-4 on the season.
On the shutting down McDavid and Draisaitl:
We knew that we had to do a job against those top guys but we also thought our depth would be a factor in the game today. It just seems like that’s how it worked out.
On the status of Tyson Barrie, who left the game in the first period after taking a shot to the ankle:
No update other than the x-rays he had were negative, but he just didn’t feel comfortable enough to go back. We’ll just have to see how he is when we get home.
On the performance of the third line (Engvall – Kerfoot – Mikheyev):
They were great. They just skated, they worked, they made plays, and they attacked the net. There were a lot of really good things they were doing. They were feeling it today. It is a good sign for our team just with three guys like that who skate the way they do and work. I felt comfortable no matter who they were on the ice against, even if it was McDavid.
On the performance of Justin Holl in the McDavid matchup:
He was excellent. I thought all of our defense… That’s the end of a long trip. It’s our ninth day on the road here. Barrie goes down early there and it’s a tough task. You’re leading for 55 minutes or whatever it was. You know they are going to be pushing and coming. Our guys did a great job. Hollsy was great, but I thought Jake Muzzin was outstanding and really competitive. Mo and Cece — everybody was really good.
On whether Frederik Gauthier’s move to a shorter stick a few years back plays a role in his finish in the third period:
I don’t know. It’s hard to say. We’ll go with yes. Freddy had a chance to score there in the first period and I’m sure he wanted that one back. He got a great chance there late in the game and put the game away for us. It was a great shift by that line and a great finish by him.
On what a three-wins-in-four-games road trip means to the team:
Hopefully, it will help our confidence. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster of a trip. Lots of positive things — lots of really good things — that were covered up by the nature of the way some of the games went and some of the chances we gave up and things like that. It masked some of the really good things that are happening here for our team. We want to make sure that we continue to make our team aware of where they can get better but not lose sight of the progress we are making in other areas.
On the performance of the Tavares line in the McDavid matchup:
Really good. We did our best to try to get them out there as much as we could without having last change. I thought they did a great job. Any time they were away from #97, I thought they dominated the matchups they had. We called on them a lot here just because of the task that we had with their best guys, and those guys were great and have been all trip.
On Frederik Andersen reaching 200 wins (fastest ever Euro goalie to do so) and what he means to the club:
I think it is well-documented and obvious that he means a lot. He is the backbone of the team. It is a great little accomplishment for him. I am not sure he was quite aware of it, but we made it clear to him. From what I’ve been told, it’s the fastest European goalie [to 200 wins] in history. That is pretty remarkable. There have been some incredible goaltenders from Europe who have come to the league. It’s a great accomplishment for him — very well deserved.
