Ahead of Wednesday’s game against Buffalo, head coach Sheldon Keefe discussed Matthew Knies’ fit on the Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner line, the team’s play since the Morgan Rielly suspension, and the challenge against the Sabres.
Matthew Knies wasn’t happy with the penalty he took the other night. Is it a learning curve for a lot of rookies or just one of those things that happens in a game?
Keefe: It is one of those things where as a younger player, you are trying to sort it out as to what you can and can’t get away with, especially things that involve your stick. That is a big part of it — just being responsible with it.
In terms of high sticks and things like that, you have college players who play in a league with full cages on. I think those kinds of guys are maybe less responsible or less aware of their stick because of it both in terms of what you might do to others and what others might do to you. When you have a cage on, you are a little more reckless. Those are the kinds of things you learn over time.
What have you made of the way Knies has handled playing on the top line and playing against the other team’s best players?
Keefe: I think he has done a good job of it, which is why we have stayed with it. A lot of the heavy lifting comes from Auston and Mitch, but he — without a doubt — has an important role to play on both sides of the puck. He does a lot of work to get up the ice on the forecheck. A lot of the time, he is the disruptor who creates loose pucks for them and is getting pucks out on the wall and breakouts.
If you make a mistake when you are playing against top competition, they can make you pay for it that much quicker. Against New York the other night, Knies made a mistake coming on the ice, we lost numbers, we gave up an odd-man rush, and it was in our net in a few seconds. Those are the kinds of things that you can’t quite get away with and maybe can if you are playing lower in the lineup. The execution level on offense isn’t as great as you get lower down the lineup.
In terms of how he is handling it, I think he is handling it fine, but it is something that we have to be aware of. That is why, at times, I pull back his minutes despite the fact that he primarily plays on that line. There is a major discrepancy in their minutes, and it is not always just power play-related. Even at five-on-five, we’re trying to lighten that load a little bit and give him a chance to breathe. He has given us everything he has on every shift. On the bench, sometimes, it looks like he needs a bit of a breath.
Those are just things for me to be aware of and sensitive to.
With a bit of runway now since the Morgan Rielly suspension, do you think you are a different team since then?
Keefe: I think we have to do it for longer than we have, but I think we showed tremendous growth through that. We have shown tremendous capacity to play the way we need to play and do it for a period of time. To me, that time has to grow. We have to do it for longer.
We have to find a way to have it be the standard and have fewer ups and downs in that area. If we focus on the Vegas game coming back, the New York game, and the game the other night against Boston, there are really good moments in those games — in particular, the New York and Boston games — but there are some dips inside of it that hurt us. There are some mistakes.
In the Boston game, there are big momentum swings. Aside from the breakaway we gave up right on the opening shift in the first 10 seconds — [Liljegren] slips, and we can’t get over to the middle — I thought we got through that and got a save. Our next eight minutes of play were really, really strong. And then we had a power play, the momentum switches, and now we are on our heels. We slip a little bit in our details and physicality while the other team is pushing.
That is the kind of stuff that we have to find greater consistency to do the necessary things for a longer period of time both in a game and over the schedule. Before we went on the road, we started at home and had some really good efforts. We built on that and continued to grow our game through our long road trip there. Coming back home, it has been a little bit more up and down. We have to really work toward that consistency level in this building, in particular.
How is David Kampf doing in his recovery from illness?
Keefe: He will be a game-time decision. He is feeling better today. It looks like we are going through it again here. It is catching up to us again with some of these illnesses. We have some others that will be game-time decisions tonight.
Buffalo beat up on your team pretty good earlier this season. Is that something that is a motivating factor or is it so long ago that it’s not really top of mind?
Keefe: It less about the motivating or whatever. I don’t think you are focused on that. We are in a much better place as a team than when we were then. But it gets your attention. That is what it is about.
We have given up 15 goals against this team in two games. It is one of the most skilled teams in this league. If you don’t defend and don’t take care of the puck — and you make it easy on them — they make you look bad. It is not just us. It is teams across the league. When they are at their best and the game goes their way, that is what they do.
We have to respect it with how we play. We have to adapt and be aware of the style of game. It is a different type of game than when you play against them with the skill they have. The game tends to be wide open. We have to manage that.
Even going back to many of your predecessors, the Buffalo-Toronto rivalry seems to bring out the Sabres’ best.
Keefe: I don’t think it is any surprise for anyone who is here that we get teams’ best when they come to Toronto when it is a rival like that. When we go in there, we fill their building with our fans. There are lots of reasons for them to be at their best. There are lots of reasons for us to be at our best as well.
What have you liked about Ilya Samsonov’s game lately?
Keefe: Just the confidence and swagger that he’s got. That is a big part of his game. He has been building on that even though he has been through some tough times here. He has found his way through it. He has done the work.
He is just feeling good in that sense. As I was talking about, we are in a different place now than when we played these guys last. I would say the same about Sammy. It has been good to see that growth through the season. We get a chance to put it on display tonight.
