Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins which dropped the team’s record to 12-6-4.
On the team’s performance in a hard-fought game:
I thought it was a hard-played hockey game by both teams. There was not a lot between the two teams. The two teams were playing hard. The referees let the teams play.
It was not your typical early-December hockey game. It was a tough game out there. It is fast and competitive. I thought our guys hung right there, fought their way back, and got us another point.
On Max Domi breaking his goal-scoring slump with his first as a Leaf:
It is huge for him and a big one. He has done well for us. He has found ways to contribute in different ways. He has made some plays to make others look good. It is great for him to have that moment.
On Auston Matthews’ performance:
I thought he was a beast out there tonight. I thought he was all over the puck. He attacked the net. He shot the puck. Two huge goals for us. I thought he was excellent.
On the play of the Matthews line as a whole:
I thought they were on the puck. That is a hard team to play against. They don’t give you much. You have to earn absolutely everything. They had looks.
Auston’s first goal is just earning it. There is nothing cute about that. I thought we found our way to the interior of the rink against a team that makes it really hard to do so. We had some looks and some opportunities in and around the net to maybe score another one.
That line was good. As I go back through it and watch it, they made a couple of mistakes that ended up in our net, but by and large, everyone gave us what we needed tonight.
On Joseph Woll’s fantastic saves in OT:
It is a game with no margin for error. He is standing his ground. He has played a lot of hockey now. He has had no easy nights.
Tremendous growth for him through this week. A very difficult week, but he stood his ground all the way through. Thrilled for him.
On how the defense is coming together despite the injuries:
They are grinding and finding ways. We played way better tonight than we have played in a while against a team that makes it really hard. You see Pastrnak tonight — if you give an inch, he is finding his way through.
Every shift is a tough one. Every moment and every puck is tough. The guys hung in there. They were competitive.
I talked about Woll holding his ground. I thought the D stood their ground tonight. A lot of good things.
If there ever was a game where both teams deserved two points, this is probably it. That is not the way the league works.
You want two points, but the way that we had to find our way back here… That is twice now against one of the top teams in the league if not the top team. We have been down twice against them by two and find a way back to get a point out of each game.
With the exception of a few mistakes in regulation and a few mistakes in overtime, the guys gave us everything they had tonight.
On the four-day break upcoming:
It comes at a good time. It has been a busy week with lots of hockey. It is going to start to get busy again before Christmas. It is an important break for us.
We haven’t practiced much this week. We are going to practice tomorrow, give the guys Monday off, and go again on Tuesday-Wednesday to get ready for Ottawa.
