Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks which dropped the team’s record to 10-5-3.
On how the game got away from the team:
We didn’t score enough early on our chances. We could’ve had two or three in the first three minutes of the game. We didn’t capitalize there.
We didn’t give up a lot here today. It is among the fewest scoring chances we have given up this season, but they scored three goals where we had the puck on our sticks in our end and it ended up in our net.
That made it easier for them.
On the performance of the Matthews and Marner line:
It just wasn’t their night tonight. Didn’t have it.
On giving Nick Robertson and Max Domi an opportunity in overtime:
I thought Domi and Robertson gave us a lot here today. That line was good. Jarnkrok was good. Most of the night, they were chasing them around with Bedard. They still did a good job with that matchup. They scored early for us.
We were trying to give them the chance to win the game there. Max won the faceoff. It didn’t work out for us, but those guys played a good game for us.
On Ryan Reaves scoring his first goal of the season/being on the ice for his first goal after a run of 11 straight goals against:
Huge. The guys were happy for him. It was great to see. It shows the impact he has had on the group. The guys are pulling for him. I thought he had a good night tonight.
On whether he is losing patience with the too-many-men penalties or if it’s mostly circumstantial:
No, I have lost patience.
On how he is going to address the problem of the too-many-men penalties:
I have already addressed it.
On William Nylander’s near miss in OT:
It just looked like it wasn’t our night, you know?
On the team’s energy level and if it was a factor in the first game back from the Sweden trip:
I don’t think so. We had two of maybe our best practices all season in terms of pace, tempo, and competitiveness. It showed me the guys are past that. Let’s not go there here tonight. That’s not it.
