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Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team’s 3-1 sweep-clinching victory over the Vancouver Canucks, improving the Leafs’ record to 10-2-1 on the season.


On tonight’s game compared to the first two games of the series:

You can’t even compare tonight’s game to the first two games of the series. Vancouver was a much different team today, so it was a much different game. I think our failure tonight was really to adapt to the game. I thought we really controlled the first two games with the puck. Today, it was a lot harder to do so with the way they worked and competed. They got on top of us and made it a lot harder. We didn’t adapt to that until the third period. You can’t really compare tonight’s game to anything previous to.

On the signs that are visible when Andersen is on his game:

That he looks calm, confident, comfortable. Those are the traits that we have come to know when he is at this best.

On the 11F/7D setup and if it affected the team’s rhythm:

It certainly did, but it was because we were chasing the game. It is not a comfortable position to be in at 11 and 7 when you are chasing the game like that. It didn’t take long before the game got going that I could just tell that I didn’t like the way it was going. I could tell that Vancouver was playing a much different type of game today and that 11 and 7 was not going to be overly good for us.

I am glad we found our way through that, but I was certainly regretting my decision once the game got going. You don’t have those answers before the game begins. It was a different game here today. I liked that our guys found a way through it. I didn’t like how we played or that it took us so long to adapt. But I did like that we stuck with it.

The number one takeaway from the game today for me: Despite being grossly outplayed through two periods, because we didn’t crack defensively…  We gave up the one clear 2-on-1 in the first period where Fred had to make an outstanding save, but aside from that, I thought there were a lot of pucks from the outside, a lot of pucks thrown at the net, and very few odd mans or guys getting behind us. They didn’t get access to our net very well.

The fact that we had that foundation defensively, despite being badly outplayed, gave us a chance to hang around in the game In combination with Fred’s goaltending and him not allowing anything to get by him. That was the positive for me. It would probably be the only one.

In the third period, I thought we were full marks.

On Mitch Marner’s consistency and eight-game points streak:

I think that he has played very well for us. It is good to see him get that rewarded and to keep that going. I didn’t even know he had any sort of streak going, but I do know that he has been making an impact for us.

He takes the initiative to create a play off of the faceoff for us and execute and find Auston to help us win the game. That is really good and positive.

Like we had talked about with our team and all of our players, these are the games you need to be good in. You need to find a way to be good in these games where nothing is going your way and it is hard and the other team is really pushing.

I thought Vancouver played an outstanding game here today. They certainly came with a renewed focus and energy level. I thought they played with a lot of urgency. It felt like a desperate team over there. They played hard and deserved more than they got today.

I challenged our guys to find a way to be good in this type of environment. This is the type of environment you need to be good in. Sometimes things are uncomfortable and you have to find a way. I thought our guys did that, Mitch being one of them.

On what allowed the team to find its way through the third period:

First of all, it just speaks to the confidence our team has. We have been finding ways to win these types of games all season — maybe not to the extent we were outplayed here today, but we talked after the second period about how we don’t like what has happened through two. We need to wash it. We do have a chance to win the hockey game here if we can put together 20 minutes.

Also, at the same time, these are the kinds of games that, if we want to be a good team that wants to accomplish great things, you need to find a way to be good when things are uncomfortable. I really liked our response in the third period.