Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 6-5 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets which dropped the team’s record to 15-6-6.
On whether he has ever coached a team that’s come back from 5-0 down:
Doubtful.
On the team’s ability to nearly pull off a miracle and at least grab a point out of the game:
We have been a resilient group all season. It is a credit to the guys. We asked them to work in the third period and not go away — to give our fans something to feel good about in the third period, and to give ourselves something to be proud of in the third period.
We didn’t talk about coming back in the game or anything like that. We talked about competing. We talked about stopping the bleeding defensively.
The goal wasn’t to come back for me. The goal I set for the group was to try to get to 20 shots in the period. With that, you are hoping it encourages the guys to attack the net and shoot the puck.
None of that happens if they don’t decide it’s important to them and they are going to work for it. I was really happy with that.
We scored on the first shift [of the third]. Looking back on it, we started the first five minutes of the game really well. We started really well in the first five minutes of the second period — maybe longer than that.
I thought we probably could’ve scored earlier in that second period. We had some really good chances when it is still 2-0. The puck didn’t fall for us. It is not falling for us, and then our hole gets bigger, so everything gets magnified from there.
I loved the way the guys stayed with it and came back. We have been talking about how we are a hard team to beat. We have been talking about the regulation wins and all of that, but the lack of regulation losses are a thing, too. It is a credit to the team in that sense. They stayed with it.
Obviously, a lot of what went on tonight is not acceptable, but we remained positive throughout. In a lot of ways, it wasn’t really our night. I thought the guys went out and at least gave it a valiant effort toward making it our night. We get a very important point out of it.
On how the Blue Jackets built a 5-0 lead in the first place:
Well, the 2-0 lead to start in the first period — both of those goals go in, and on the first goal, we had the puck on our stick multiple times. We didn’t make a play to get it out. We turned it over and didn’t get a chance to defend. When it is on your stick, you’re trying to break out, and all of a sudden, they are shooting it from the slot.
On the second goal, it is a similar thing. We win a faceoff. The puck goes from our stick to their stick. Before we have a chance to get into structure, the shot is tipped in.
Quite honestly, as the lead kept building, I stopped watching it back and going back and dwelling from there other than to say: For us defensively, for much of the night, we didn’t defend the neutral zone hard enough or well enough. Our gap control wasn’t good enough.
They have lots of skill. They are top 10 in the league in five-on-five scoring. It is one thing they can do: make plays and score. When they had the puck tonight, they did make some plays with it and made us pay for it.
We couldn’t get one to fall at the start of the second period. Their lead started growing, and now it is a tough game to play and get through.
The second intermission helped us. I didn’t feel there was much to gain by going in and being overly negative or hard on the guys. We had been going well as a team, and it wasn’t our night.
We tried to focus on giving the fans something to feel good about in the third.
On how tempting it was to make a goalie change:
Very. In the moment in the second period, we decided to get through the second and talk about it, which we did. Curtis [Sanford] felt strongly that Sammy should stay in, fight, and battle with the team. That was his advice, and it is why we made the decision we made.
I like the fact that Sammy was a part of that comeback. I like the fact that he made some saves for us early in that third period to kind of make sure their team didn’t get any life back. It works out.
On whether he wonders where the team’s game in the third period was earlier in the night:
You guys can go back and watch the first five or six minutes of the first period and five or six minutes of the second period. We had our game at different times. We just kind of lost our way.
We had the puck on our stick three or four times before the first goal. We failed to make a play on it. That sort of became the issue for the rest of the period. We couldn’t break out. We couldn’t get out of our zone. It is a really hard game to play if you can’t get your feet moving or can’t make a play coming out of your end.
Now you are giving them the puck, and they have great skill. It is a young team that moves the puck extremely well with lots of speed and confidence. It is sort of the way it goes.
I thought there were pockets in the game where we had what we had in the third in the first and second. As I said, when it doesn’t fall for us early in the second and the lead starts to grow, now it is a tough game to play if you are a player. It is a tough game to get through.
That is all the more reason why it is a credit to the group to just regroup in the second, go out, and give it what you’ve got. It turned out to be a fun night. We had more than enough looks to get the second point.
When you gamble like we did in regulation, you risk giving up that point. Obviously, Columbus deserves two points tonight, Us losing the second point is probably an appropriate result based on the way that the game went. But I loved the fight and the spirit of our group in that third period.
On the team’s strength at 6-on-5:
It is two things or three things.
It is the talent, of course. The guys have to be able to shoot it in the net.
We have talked about this earlier in the season. Guy Boucher has come in with a good plan that the guys bought into. They’ve had success along the way, so they just continue to adhere to it.
The pucks are falling. It gives us belief. When we get to 5-3 after McCabe fires that in, there is a lot of chatter on the bench that we are going to be okay. We have a significant chance.
Now, you don’t know. They iced the puck a couple of times; maybe it goes in the net, and you leave with nothing. But we have great confidence in it. I wish we used it a lot less.
On Ryan Reaves’ status after leaving the game in the first period:
He is going to be out for a while. For the full diagnosis, we will have to wait.
