Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs practice
Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs practice
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After practice on Wednesday, head coach Sheldon Keefe discussed the team’s play since the holiday break and the challenge coming up against the Seattle Kraken.

Practice Lines – January 4

Note: It was a maintenance day for William Nylander.

Did you get a sense yesterday that there might be some fatigue in the team’s game in the first home game after a road trip?

Keefe: I wouldn’t say that. Maybe some mental fatigue early because our start wasn’t good. I didn’t think we were as sharp or engaged in the game early in the game in the first period. It got better as we went on. The third period was quite good for us.

I don’t think you could say fatigue is a factor because of the fact that we got better as the game went on. I think there were a number of good things we did in the game, but there were also a number of things we need to do better.

We talked about special teams getting away on us in terms of a shorthanded goal and two power-play goals against. There were two opportunities to clear the puck that we don’t execute on, giving them extra opportunities. They end up hurting you.

The game gets away on you. All of a sudden, through 22 or 23 minutes of hockey, you have given up three goals on special teams. It is going to be a challenging game from there, and you are going to have to chase it, which we did a good job of.

We have to do a better job of defending and taking care of special teams. Any time you score five, it should be a win all day every day. It clearly wasn’t enough yesterday.

Looking ahead to Seattle with the prescout, what is the hallmark of their team that leads to their success?

Keefe: For me, they play with great speed. They are very connected and structured. I think [Dave Hakstol] and his staff have done a terrific job.

Even last season, they were not an easy team to play against. The underlying numbers and metrics that you look at show that they were a real good team that couldn’t get a lot of saves. It was tough on them, but playing against them was not an easy task. They have a lot of speed, they’re great in transition, and they’re great in the offensive zone. They’re deep. They get offense from all four lines.

At five on five, they are the number one offense in the NHL. They’re very challenging to defend there. A lot of it has been because they get a lot of production from all four lines and their defense is involved as well. There are challenges there for sure to contend with.

We will be tested defensively for sure. That is an area where we have slipped since we have come back from the break. We have to bring it back.

With three games in four nights coming up, is there a chance you rotate in the two extra bodies on defense?

Keefe: We will look at it. I had talked to Timmins the other day just about the fact that he wasn’t going to play in either of the games this week. It is a good chance for him to spend more time in the gym and on the ice with the development staff without having to focus on games.  We were going to go with other guys and give him that chance. We will revisit it tomorrow and see where we are at there.

Certainly, with both Timmins and Benn, they are guys who have done a good job for us. It is not easy to make those kinds of decisions to have them come out. Of course, the six that we have in are guys that have, by and large, been our six when healthy. You want to give them an opportunity to get going again.

Like anything else, when you have other guys who have shown the ability to help you, you have that internal competition. Hopefully, that pressure, in time, becomes positive for us, and we can utilize that depth — if not to make lineup changes, then to make everybody stay sharp and consistent.

Does it change things when you are at home so much this month and the opportunity it provides to work with the skill development staff?

Keefe: We try to utilize that as much as we can for sure. There are a lot more opportunities to do it when you are at home. As much as we are at home, it is not like we have an abundance of days off. It is a challenge to come off of a game the night before, come to the rink, and put in another day’s work.

It is a challenge to manage that, especially when you get to this point of the week with the second game. We have two more games looming. As much as we want to take advantage of each day, it is on the staff and I to be smart about how we do that.

The guys who are not playing as much are going to take advantage of these days. For the guys who are playing more, you are going to give them more time away.

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