Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team’s 6-3 loss to the Arizona Coyotes that dropped the Leafs’ record to 22-8-6.
On the end of the team’s run of zero defeats in regulation when leading after 40 minutes:
That is two games in a row now that we have given up a lead in the third period. You can’t hang onto the past. We’ve come out of the break on the road, and it’s two games we’ve been in control of. It got away on us for different reasons.
Again, we took a careless penalty in the third period. We had it all but killed and failed to get it out, and then it is in our net. It is little details like that where we were just a little off — a little off in the execution there, a little off on the execution of the high-end chances we did have. That is the difference in the game.
On where the game got away from the team:
I thought we did a good job of managing the puck in the first period. We scored two really big power-play goals. We didn’t get a lot of offense at five-on-five, but we didn’t give up really anything aside from the first shift. That is a breakaway we give up on the first shift, so that is not a good look for us off the start.
Those little details are really the difference in the game. They had a breakaway and a two-on-one. We were pulling both out of our net. We had the same types of looks and nothing to show for it.
Giving up four is too many, and we didn’t capitalize on the chances that we had to outscore it.
On Morgan Rielly’s first game back:
I thought he was good. I thought he had good legs. He was put in a real tough spot on that fourth goal. It is a real tough pass that is handed to him under pressure that he has to contend with.
I thought he had good legs. It was noticeable what he was able to bring on the rush, especially. He gets out there with that power-play unit, and they do a really good job for us.
On Dryden Hunt’s Leafs debut:
He was noticeable. He drew a penalty for us that led to a goal. He was physical, and the physicality drew a fight. I think he did a good job for us today.
He still has some little details in the system and stuff that he has to pick up, but in terms of it being your first game, you aren’t going to play a lot, and you are on the fourth line, I thought he made his presence felt.
On the atmosphere in the Mullett Arena:
Once the game gets going, you don’t really notice it too much. It is really loud. I don’t know if the speakers are turned up a little extra or if it is because they are a little lower, but it is real loud in terms of the music. It probably drowned out a lot of the atmosphere in terms of the crowd. I couldn’t really get much of a feel from that sense of it.
In terms of the game itself, it just seemed like hockey.
