Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs practice
Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs practice
Advertisement

After practice on Friday, head coach Sheldon Keefe discussed the decision to reinsert Justin Holl into the lineup for Saturday’s game against Montreal, the decision to pair Holl with Rasmus Sandin, Ilya Samsonov’s status for Saturday night, and Matt Murray’s progress toward a return.

Practice Lines – February 17

What is Ilya Samsonov’s status?

Keefe: He is out with an illness. We will see where he is at throughout the day today and into tomorrow, and we’ll make a decision from there.

Would you lean towards Joe Woll going tomorrow?

Keefe: It is to be determined.

Samsonov has had a fantastic year with the team this season similar to Vitek Vanecek’s year in New Jersey. Do you think a change of scenery around that can help them re-establish themselves?

Keefe: Yeah, of course, it can. Sometimes, you need a change. Sometimes, you need a change just because a new environment can serve you well. Sometimes, you need a change because maybe you need to look at yourself a little bit deeper and make some adjustments in terms of your habits and preparation.

Every situation is different. You see some teams and the same players stay with the same organization, stay with it, keep getting better, keep working, and then they pop. Every situation is unique, but the most important thing is that the players put in the work no matter where they are or what their circumstances are. Certainly, in Ilya’s case, he has done that.

How is Matt Murray progressing?

Keefe: I think he is progressing well. He has been putting in some consistent work. The ankle is still not at the point where it is not allowing him to do everything that is required to play goal in terms of his movements and all of those types of things.

They are just continuing to monitor that and are trying to strengthen the ankle. He has stayed busy. He continues to see pucks and do the work that he can at this point.

Is there a timeline for his return?

Keefe: No.

What does it mean to have someone in Joe Woll so that the goaltending isn’t dropping off a cliff with the third option?

Keefe: It is huge. We saw it already this season with Källgren. We used four goaltenders last year and four goalies already this year.

Joe has done a good job for us. Last season, he did a really good job and got good experience. He has been great in the American league.

I didn’t think we gave him much of a chance to be very good the other night when he played in terms of how we played in front of him. But he has great talent. I thought he was excellent in practice today.

We’re certainly deep in there. When Matt’s injury occurred or Ilya’s earlier this season and you have to rely on others, just like with the defense, the focus has just been to get our team ready to play the next day. Don’t make too big of a deal of it. Just press on.

We have done a good job, for the most part, of dealing with those situations.

Why did you opt to go right back to Justin Holl in the lineup?

Keefe: I didn’t intend to have Justin out for too long, first of all. I think his game had slipped a little bit, but he has played a lot of really good hockey. He and Giordano, if I am not mistaken, are the only two to have played every game to that point.

Those guys have taken a lot, have been very consistent for us, and have given us a chance to be that foundation — at least the two of them as the constants in our lineup. They helped us through some very tough times.

On his worst day, he is a top penalty killer for us. For all of those things, you want to get him back in. At the same time, you want to be able to let him know that we are not happy his game had slipped. You want to give opportunities to someone like Timmins.

The reality is that these are our top six defensemen. We wanted to get Hollsy back in.

Did you like Timothy Liljegren’s game with Mark Giordano, so you decided to go with Holl and Rasmus Sandin to keep that dynamic in place?

Keefe: That is a big part of it. That pairing has been very good for us as well.

Sandin and Holl is one [pairing] that we don’t have a great sample on, but the sample we have had has been just okay. It is a chance for Holl to come back in and maybe have a little bit of a different look and different assignments with a chance to pair well with a young defenseman.

Holl has done very well with Giordano or the different partners he has had throughout the season. We would like to see him step in and really help a young guy there.

At the same time, Liljegren and Giordano have done a really good job for us, be it this season or last season.  We feel pretty good about that.

Knowing how the first few games went against Montreal, does it add some fuel to the fire for Saturday night?

Keefe: The biggest thing is that we know how hard they play against us. They have good speed and skill and move the puck well. I don’t think too much needs to be said for that.

Are you surprised to see the team is still fighting even though Cole Caufield is hurt and they have a ton of players out injured?

Keefe: First of all, Marty [St. Louis] does a good job of keeping them engaged. The young players they have play with lots of speed, spirit, and energy. Some of their older guys are feeding off of that, I am sure. That is the vibe I get.

I haven’t watched too much of them outside of the games we played against them, but you certainly feel it in those moments and in those games. They have a good spirit about them and they just continue to make it hard on you every night. If you are not at your best, they are going to beat you.

It is not just us. They have done it to some other teams of late. They hang around in games and make it tough. It is going to be an easy one to prepare our team for mentally. Going out on the ice and executing is a whole other thing. We will do what we can to have the guys in the right frame of mind to do that.

Was there a reason for the drills you ran today on special teams?

Keefe: We are just trying to up the pace in terms of moving the puck, attacking the net, and also giving the guys lots of feel in terms of shooting the puck in the net and getting those touches. It is just a little bit of a change in how you deliver it, but it is the mindset we want to have in terms of the pace of passing, the execution, and ultimately, attacking and shooting it in the net. It is a good way to go about that. There is pretty high energy to it as well, which is a great way to end the practice.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR