Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs post game
Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs post game
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Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team’s 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers that improved the Leafs’ record to 21-7-6 entering the holiday break.


On the team’s performance:

I thought we had a terrible first period, a really good second period, and I loved how we started the third period. We did a lot of really good things in the third period, I thought, but we made a few mistakes, they ended up in our net, and we made the game way harder than it needed to be.

On Mitch Marner’s play on the 5-on-3 to kill time off the clock:

It is next-level stuff. Not many guys are processing the game in that manner in terms of timing and space and all of those things. It is a little dangerous just in the fact that the other guys on the ice probably aren’t thinking the same way, but in that case, a huge play by him. It obviously gets us through a tough time in the period.

On the way the team handled the final minutes:

I think we had some opportunities to ice the game and put it in the net, and we were unable to do that. In terms of how we played, I thought we didn’t panic through that. We had been in that situation before, and we looked like it.

On the upcoming break and the benefits of the time away:

Vital. We are fortunate that we get the extra time away as well with the early game today. I am still going to see both of my kids play hockey games tonight, so this is good stuff.

Getting the extra time is important. Every team in the league has its own things going on. The schedule is not easy. Time to breathe, recover, have some fun, and be with your family is terrific. It is needed.

We will come back out of this and be out on the road right away to St. Louis, but we won’t think about that for a few days.

On Rasmus Sandin’s status:

The break is going to be really important for him. Once we come back, at that point, we should have a better sense of precisely where he is at. He is an injured player, so he is not going to play the first game back for sure. It is going to be a bit of a process for him.

On Ilya Samsonov’s performance in a tough game with not a lot of shots against:

Not easy. If you look at the goals, whether it is the ones he gave up the other night or tonight, you could isolate those and maybe you want some saves there to handle it differently. But it is not an easy task for a goalie.

I was thinking during the game about how we need to do a good job of preventing the big chance. Long breaks with no action, and then you saw it in the third period. All of a sudden, you had two that were in pretty tight.

It is a tough ask for the goaltender there. I feel for him in that sense, and yet I don’t. Our team is playing well in front of him, keeping the chances down, and keeping the shots down. They are going to have to get comfortable within that.

On William Nylander hitting 20 goals already and the number of weapons the team has to throw at the opposition:

No secret, we have multiple weapons there offensively that teams have to be aware of. That line — Matthews, Willy and Bunts — was really good again today. I loved the way they went out and grabbed a hold of the game in the third period.

The other night against Tampa, we went into the third, and we were up two at the time. I thought we were hesitant early on. Today, we weren’t. We just wanted to go out, play, and get after them. You couldn’t have a better shift than we did there. Big moment for them.

They got another one as well for Nylander’s goal — a terrific goal, but if you go back to the shift before that, Holmberg’s line is out there. They bring the puck down the rink, grind the other team down, all three of them get off the ice, and we send out the Matthews line against tired people. They scored what ended up being the game-winning goal. That is something that doesn’t go unnoticed by the coach.

On whether this is the best stretch of hockey from Michael Bunting in a Leafs sweater:

Bunts has played well. I don’t know if it is the best [he’s played]. These are tough questions for me to answer because I have high expectations based on what I have seen these guys do.

We quickly forget. Whether it is Willy, Mitch, Auston, John, or Bunts, these guys have set a really high standard. They have played a lot of really good hockey. It is a tough question for me to answer without it sounding like I don’t think they are playing well. They are.

Those guys have been really good players. I think they are just doing what they are capable of.

On whether he feels good about where the team stands at the break:

Yes, I do. Very good.