Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team’s Game 3 loss to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
On his top players’ inability to break through offensively:
Credit to Florida. They defended well. Obviously, Auston rips one off the crossbar just seconds into the game. It could’ve changed that narrative.
Florida played hard today. They defended the middle of the ice well. There were a lot of opportunities for our guys there in the first five minutes. We had three or four odd-man rushes out of that.
I liked the way we started the game that way. We got Florida’s attention on it. They plugged it up pretty good after that.
At five-on-five, there was not a lot of space. There were no power plays in the game. It makes it tough on those guys.
On starting the third line in the OT period:
I didn’t like the start to the second period. We tried different things. O’Reilly has started the game in Game 2. I wouldn’t say it is atypical of me.
On Joseph Woll’s play after entering the game following Ilya Samsonov’s injury:
I thought Woll was excellent. He was great. Not surprised. He is ready for this.
On what is holding Mitch Marner back from impacting the game as much as he should be:
Hard to say. You have to give credit to Florida. They have played him hard. Mitch is a great player. He has been a great player. He is working out there. He is trying.
Today was a different game than the other two. There was not a lot of offense available out there for either team. We didn’t get the abundance of looks that we did the other night. It was tough to get any sort of rhythm. No power plays, as I said, makes it a little more challenging.
It is a team game. We need everybody to find a way to break through here.
On whether Matt Murray is an option to play in Game 4:
Matt Murray is cleared and healthy.
On the recipe for getting out of the 3-0 hole:
We have to win one game. That was the mission tonight. You have to start with one and give yourself a chance.
Obviously, they are in full control here. It is on us to make it uncomfortable for them and not go away. We still have a tremendous amount of belief in our group.
We just lost three games in a row. Florida won three games in a row. Can we win three in a row and make it real hard on them and earn ourselves a Game 7? That would be the goal for us.
It starts with one win. The messaging and all of that is not a lot different than it was tonight. We have to get a win.
Today, in a lot of ways, if you look at it, it was the real pressure game. In the next game, you just go out and play. You have to get a win.
This game could’ve gone either way tonight. It is a missed opportunity for us here just like Game 2. Those things add up, and now you have no margin for error. We will come to play, look to get our one win, bring it back home, and look to get another.
