Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team’s 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins that dropped the Leafs’ record to 7-5-3.
On the team’s performance:
I thought we had some really good portions in the second period. Some of the first period was okay. Not nearly as good as we would expect, and yet we were up 1-0. We were in a good spot. We got a great goal from Aston-Reese that gives us the lead. I was really disappointed with how he closed out that period to give them one back.
I liked our second period. I thought we were in a pretty good place. Special teams came through for us there.
We got down in the third, and I thought it was a clinic by the Pittsburgh Penguins in terms of how they defended. They made it hard. We were on the wall a lot. We couldn’t find our way through that. That is really the difference in the game.
On Erik Källgren criticizing his own performance:
I thought he played well tonight. He has been playing really well for us. Shake that one off and feel good about how you have been giving your team a chance to win.
On the team’s lack of 5v5 scoring:
There are definitely things we need to do to generate more… There are a lot of things. To me, it goes back to how connected we can be, how we can manage the puck, and how we can get on top of teams. That is really what we need to do a better job of.
Sequences are ending too quickly. We are at our best when we get second, third, and fourth opportunities to play on offense. We haven’t had enough of those as a team.
Partially, it is that managing the puck needs to be better. I think that was the biggest factor in the game here today. We didn’t manage it well enough.
On whether there will be any lineup changes for tomorrow:
We will talk about it. We don’t have a great deal of options at this point. The Marlies are out on the road, too. We will talk about it here tonight and in the morning. Any time it is a back-to-back, you kind of have to see how guys wake up, how they’re feeling, and make a decision once you know exactly who is available.
On Matt Murray’s status for tomorrow’s game:
He won’t be playing tomorrow. We made that decision a couple of days ago that we wasn’t going to be going this weekend. In terms of who will go tomorrow, we will make that decision in the morning.
On the HHoF ceremony and the emotions in the building for the tribute to Börje Salming:
I thought it certainly was emotional. I loved the response from our fans, not surprisingly. A special, special moment — for all of the Hall of Famers there having their moment, but obviously, Borje Salming’s moment, in particular, with the fans response and Darryl and Mats by his side… I thought that was a pretty special moment — and symbolic at the same time.
Börje 💙 pic.twitter.com/XNG34beQXb
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 12, 2022
