Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team’s 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens in the fifth game of the preseason, improving the Leafs’ record to 4-1 in the exhibition schedule.
On Nick Robertson’s three-point game and seven points in his last three preseason appearances:
I thought Nick had another good day today. He is moving his feet. He’s competing. He is on the puck creating turnovers and making good decisions with the puck, whether that is to make a play, shoot it, put it to a good spot and let someone else get after it, or protect it.
He is playing really good hockey right now. He is doing the things that he needs to do to show that he is wanting a spot on the team and he is ready to play in the NHL. As he continues to stack these games up, of course, we are paying attention to that.
On the team’s overall performance:
For our top guys coming in here today, I am not really evaluating these guys. This game here today, especially for those guys, is about conditioning more than anything — getting their game touches, being in the battles, and all of those kinds of things.
In terms of evaluating the game, I don’t know if there was really anything in the game that would resemble anything that would help us succeed when we play for real next week aside from our goaltending, which I thought was outstanding.
On Matt Murray’s performance:
I thought he was just terrific all night long. Even on the goal that went in, he made the save. It is the rebound that we don’t care of that goes in on him. I just thought he was really, really good. He was the highlight of the game for me.
On Zach Aston-Reese’s camp so far:
He is a guy, right from the day one that he arrived in camp, who knows who he is. He just does his job. He is competitive. He is on the right side of the puck all the time. He is doing what he can to help the team win and give himself a chance to succeed and grab ahold of a role here. I have been very happy with him.
There were a couple of times tonight where he maybe forced the issue a little bit, which is out of character for him. By and large, he has done a nice job of going out and doing the things that have allowed him to play in the NHL.
