Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team’s 7-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, improving the Leafs’ record to 13-3-2 on the season.
On the performance of the top line:
A lot of emotion, a lot of energy. They were very much in sync with how they supported one another and how they moved the puck. Of course, there is the skill set that goes with all of those elements.
On moving Kerfoot up next to Tavares and Nylander:
Just trying to get a little bit of a spark for both John and Will. We just thought we had an opportunity there to change it up a little bit.
On Michael Hutchinson’s performance:
I thought he was really good. He made some big saves throughout the game, especially in the second period. I thought there was some real strong saves there. Of course, in the third period, they are throwing everything at him. He was real strong.
I think he got better as the game wore on. I think it probably helped him that in the first period, there were a lot of shots from distance that just allowed him to sort of ease into the game. For a guy that hasn’t played in a very long time, I thought the game stood up pretty good and he was solid for us.
On the team’s performance once they went up 5-1 this time:
I didn’t think about [the last time]. We were just focusing on playing. We were playing a good game. We just had to stay with it.
On the challenge against a rested Canadiens team on Saturday:
It is a challenge when they are not rested even. They are now and have had a week of practice to prepare for us along with some time off. It is a strange situation, of course. Their last game is against us. We have now played three against Ottawa. They play us again.
We are expecting them to be real good as they were last time we played them and as they have been throughout the season. It is a challenge. We will have a short memory on this one. We will get on the plane tomorrow afternoon and get out there and get ready for the next one.
