Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs practice
Advertisement

After Friday’s practice in Vancouver, Sheldon Keefe discussed Auston Matthews’ ridiculous goal-scoring pace, re-uniting the Bertuzzi – Tavares – Nylander line, the team protecting the lead (finally) in Calgary, the numbers game at forward, and Morgan Rielly’s consistent play this season.

Practice Lines – Jan. 19

Do you feel as though the temperature has been turned down a little bit after yesterday’s win?

Keefe: The temperature has been turned down because we left Alberta and went to British Columbia.

After bouncing him around some, why do you have Tyler Bertuzzi back with John Tavares and William Nylander?

Keefe: I just think he has done a good job there most of the season. Those guys have been a really good line for us when they are at their best. I thought when I put Bert in that spot yesterday, he did a really good job for us.

It is a good fit. Willy really likes playing with him. That is really it. It just falls into place nicely.

Auston Matthews is on pace for 70 goals. His teammates are saying it is extremely sustainable. How sustainable do you think it is, as crazy as 70 goals sounds?

Keefe: As I said before, I don’t think you could ever put any sort of limitations on someone like Auston. With the ability and drive he has, it is fun to watch. It is an integral piece of our team.

Last night, he scored in some different ways — a one-timer, a backhander, and a wrist shot. That is kind of what he does and what he is capable of. It is why he is so hard to stop: He can score in so many different ways.

At the same time, I also thought he was dominant on the puck in his puck battles, his defending, and his checking. You need the goals to get the lead. You need goals, in our case last night, to get control of the game back. But, when he is checking and defending like that, he is winning most of his shifts. It sets our team up for success.

The combination of those two things is a big reason why a player of that calibre can lead us to win, but we had a lot of good efforts from a lot of different people, especially as we got through the first period. We got better as the game went along.

I really liked a lot of the contributions we got from the guys. Some of it showed up on the scoresheet, but a lot of it showed back up on the video when we watched it back.

You talked about needing guys you can rely on. You protected the lead and played well protecting the lead in Calgary. How much does one game like that help in this regard?

Keefe: I think it helps a lot. There has been a lot of focus on our third periods of late in the last week. Going into the third again last night, you really wouldn’t want it any other way, right? I don’t think you want to say, “Let’s try trailing in the third period.” You want to be in control. You want another chance to go at it and get it right.

The guys were motivated to do that. Watching it back last night and today, as our friends at TSN reminded us, we hadn’t lost in the third period when leading in regulation until the last few games. There are still lots of reasons to be confident there, but you want to shake that.

In terms of finding some guys we can rely on, they are there. It is just a matter of getting the mix right. I changed some things in terms of how I approached it. I moved Jarnkrok around a lot more. He is certainly one of those guys who you know what you are going to get from him every time you go out.

If you go back and were to watch the first three shifts of the third period, how we came out, and how we worked… We lost the opening faceoff of the period and didn’t spend much time in their end. Mitch Marner sprints the entire length of the ice to apply pressure, creates a turnover, and gets Calgary on their heels. That lasts the first three shifts of the third period. That is sort of the mentality you want to have as a team.

We got a break with the challenge coming back our way, and yet as a coach, you want to coach the process as well as we can. I thought we did a lot of really good things. Despite having the lead, we had a significant advantage in the quality of the scoring chances. After the challenge was successful and the goal came back, we didn’t allow a scoring chance for the rest of the period.

There are a lot of things that you like, but just like when it didn’t go well and you have to rinse it and move on, we have a whole new challenge tomorrow afternoon. We are going to have to take what we have been through — the good and the bad — regroup and be ready for the top team in the NHL.

Why do you think Morgan Rielly has been able to avoid a dip in his play all season?

Keefe: He is a very good player. He has been through a lot here. I think he has had a tremendous season.

To say he hasn’t had a dip… I think all players throughout a season — or a game, even — are going to have dips, but he has bounced back so quickly so you haven’t really noticed it.

I think that is what I like about it: He hasn’t let it snowball. He has taken on a ton of minutes for us. He has remained healthy and has been consistent in his effort.

He has just been even-keeled. When things are going great or poorly, he is the same guy. That does a lot for his own game and our team as one of our leaders.

What can Ryan Reaves do to get back in the lineup at this point?

Keefe: Just keep working and stay ready. That is a big part of it. He is working his way through an injury as well to really get back. It is hard to figure out when the right time is to test him in a game.

We have been trying to look at different things and different people. With Reavo, we have a pretty good sense of who he is and what he can bring to our team. We have some questions about these young guys. Three out of our four left-wingers are first-year players, essentially, with Holmberg, McMann, and Knies. You could put Robertson in there, and it’s four guys.

There are some questions there about what we have in these guys. How do they fit in? How do we make them work with our group and give them opportunities to grow their games? It is hard to do if you are moving them in and out of the lineup.

With Holmberg, in particular, the first question was: Can he play wing? He hadn’t played much wing at all. And then it was: Can he play with good players? Is he going to be a guy who plays lower in the lineup? These are the things you are trying to find out.

Some guys are going to get lost in that shuffle. Robertson is one right now. Reavo is another. But we know who those guys are. We have discussions every day about whether it is time to get him back in and move things around. We had a discussion today where we looked at it.

The McMann, Gregor, and Kampf line — for those three guys, maybe the best game they had as a trio was against Vancouver the last time we played them. That was early on when we put that group together. For that reason, you don’t want to really mess with that. We think it can bring some value against a very quick, competitive, and physical team like Vancouver. They are deep and there are no shifts off. We like that line.

My message to Robertson, too: You have to stay ready. There is not a lot they can do while not playing. It is more about what is happening around them.

For certain players, it doesn’t meet their timelines, but I have had these discussions every day — sometimes multiple times a day — in terms of how we manage our lineup and our roster. We try to make the decisions every single day that are the best for the team that particular night but also look a little bit bigger picture.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR