Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team’s 6-4 win over the Ottawa Senators that improved the Leafs’ record to 28-10-3 on the season and 9-0-1 in their last 10.
On the chemistry between Matthews and Marner at the moment:
They obviously have great chemistry. Mitch found him today. Auston shot the puck as good as he has in — I don’t know — months, maybe. They connected today.
On his satisfaction with the results of Galchenyuk joining Matthews – Marner and Hyman joining Tavares:
It took a little bit of time for Galchenyuk to find his place on that line. By the second period, they really got going. Obviously, they scored two goals in the first period, but I thought that was mostly Auston and Mitch connecting. Galchenyuk found his place as the game wore on.
I thought the Tavares line was outstanding.
On the Senators giving the Leafs a challenge in every meeting:
Obviously, we gave up too much here tonight. That Ottawa team, I’ll tell you, for me, is playing as well as anyone in the division. They are not getting nearly enough credit for it. The start they had to the season dug them a really large hole, but we play six teams in the division. I certainly think that they save their best for us, perhaps, but in terms of playing against them, it is just as hard as anybody else in the division.
You have to give a lot of credit to them. It is a tough adjustment for our guys. We struggled to make it mentally, I think, in order to play against them. It makes the game a little more chaotic than it is against some of our other opponents.
On Jack Campbell’s performance despite giving up five goals:
He battled, as he normally does. We gave up too much with a lot of speed coming at him tonight. They shoot the puck a lot and go to the net a lot. Even routine saves are challenging against this team. I am sure he didn’t love pulling five pucks out of his net tonight, but he battled like he has done since he has gone in this season. He finds ways to win.
On Alex Barabanov’s play in the last two games since re-entering the lineup:
I think he has done well. When the puck has come to him, he has made good plays with it — good decisions. He has been on it and created some turnovers here today.
This, obviously, is his second game in a while. In his game the other night, he wasn’t expecting to play. We had the Nylander situation that put him in the lineup. He already had a real hard skate in the morning and a workout. He wasn’t expecting to play. I thought he did well in that game and here again tonight. You are happy with his contribution there.
It is a good sign for him that he has stayed with it despite not playing for a long time.
