Sheldon Keefe spoke to the media after his team’s 7-4 come-from-behind win over the Detroit Red Wings that improved the Leafs’ record to 27-10-3 on the season.
On the team’s comeback effort:
Our best people made big-time plays in the third period. The most important thing was just to stop the bleeding defensively. That was really what we needed to do. I felt pretty confident that we would be able to score at least two in that period, which is what we talked about. We wouldn’t be able to catch up if we didn’t stop the bleeding defensively.
I thought we played better that way, and then our best people made big-time plays, put the pressure on Detroit, and didn’t let up. It’s a great win for us — not a great game for us, but a great win, no doubt.
On reverting to the old line combinations after the team fell behind:
We were trailing in the game, so we’re not necessarily playing for control of the game anymore. We are playing to catch up in the game. We needed to shorten the bench a little bit and change the lines a little bit. That is really what I was going for there.
On whether it’s concerning that the team fell behind 3-1 and 4-2:
I had no real issues with the first period with the exception of how we defended around our net. I thought it was too easy around our net, but I thought we did a lot of good things in the first period. That wasn’t a big issue for me.
How we started in the second period, to me, was ugly. That was no good.
Without a doubt, the way the team responds in the third period leaves you feeling good about that. It gives you confidence that you can learn from the things you didn’t do well enough in those first two periods and the different times it hurt us defensively. You take away the confidence from how you played in the third.
On Rasmus Sandin scoring his first goal of the season:
It is huge. Any time these guys get to contribute offensively, it is good for them. Nobody likes to have a zero beside their name no matter what position you play. That is a good thing to get that out of their head.
We needed our defense to be involved tonight. We talked about that before the game. We had a sense that they would be a factor offensively — or at least that we needed them to be a factor.
I loved his initiative to jump into that space. It was an incredible play by John Tavares to not only fight off the check but then to see Sandy there and make the play. It’s a big-time play, a great finish, and a huge goal for us. It gives us a big win in the third.
On Michael Bunting’s hat-trick performance:
Bunts competed the entire night. He was involved. All of that crap at the end of the second period around their net after the buzzer was Bunts being engaged and being involved. We talked a lot about being around the net for the game tonight.
He was around the net a lot and got rewarded for it. He is a competitor in there. His linemates did good things to bring the puck to that space.
Huge night for him. On a big night here on Hockey Day in Canada in Scarborough, it is fitting that Bunts comes through like that. It is terrific to see for a guy who just competes out there.
On the play of the Engvall – Spezza – Simmonds fourth line:
I thought this was their best night here in a while. I really liked their contribution — not just the goal they scored in the first period; I thought they had good energy shifts for us and good legs.
Pierre has been good for us for a while now. We thought his presence down on that line with Spezz and Simmer would give them another element that could help them. I thought it did tonight.
That was a good line for us today. I wanted to keep them involved. I thought they were definitely positive contributors in the game tonight, and that includes the first and second periods. Those guys were good.
On the message to the team during the TV timeout with the team down 3-1:
We weren’t defending properly. We were just giving up clean looks around our net. We were sloppy with the puck. We just needed to clean our game up. We needed to play a lot better and with a lot more urgency. That was the message.
I kind of followed through with that into the second intermission. We just had to play better defensively and stop the bleeding there. We had to have a lot more urgency.
I really felt strongly that if we could stop the bleeding defensively, we were going to be okay. In particular, I felt that if we scored the next goal, we would be able to win the game.
That was the way it worked out, but only because we were able to stop the bleeding defensively — both in how we played and the fact that when we gave up a couple of looks, Petr Mrazek was solid for us in the third. That was what we needed. It gave us a chance to win.
