Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens which improved the team’s record to 37-19-8.
On the team’s performance:
The guys stayed with it.
Obviously, we got some great goals, whether it was Bobby starting the second period for us and in essence responding for us giving one up on the first shift of the first period, or Max’s two great plays — one to skate onto the puck that Jarnkrok threw out into the neutral zone for him, and another to finish that. Max made a great play to initiate the third goal as well with John driving to the net.
We had some great moments and really good goals at key times. Otherwise, we just stayed with it. I thought we got some saves from Sammy. He battled really hard. We didn’t give up a whole lot and didn’t generate a whole lot, either.
There were some really strong efforts — not just on those goals I talked about, but I thought the Kampf line with McMann and Knies was outstanding. The Dewar line gave us lots of really good shifts, too. As I described, Tavares’ group made some plays with Max at key times in the game.
Perhaps my favourite part of the game: Our penalty kill gives one up again — which evens the game — and then it is tested with the game on the line. It had to come through at that moment. It did. That is big, and hopefully, it’s something for us to build on there.
On whether Bobby McMann looks capable of scoring at his AHL pace at the next level:
He had two other 2-on-1s tonight where he floated some passes over. I wish he had shot those ones. If he starts shooting those ones, maybe then we can say that.
I just thought he played an outstanding game with lots of confidence. He was strong and hard on the puck. There was a lot of urgency to his game. I thought their team had a hard time handling him.
It was a really good showing from him. He had a real strong push for us a couple of weeks back, and then it sort of leveled off a bit. Here, at a time that is a tough stretch for us — four games in six nights in three cities — we needed some big efforts. Bobby certainly stepped up for us.
On the play of his top line tonight:
They weren’t very good.
Individually, they just weren’t very good. It is a night when the group picked them up. That was good.
On his first impressions of Joel Edmundson and Connor Dewar:
They are different. Edmundson has a ton of experience in the league and Dewar not as much. But both guys, to me, are just very smart. They know exactly who they are and what they need to do on the ice.
With Edmundson, we have come to expect it. He has won Stanley Cups and played deep in the playoffs a lot. He is a veteran defenseman.
Dewar — I was really impressed with his overall awareness and intelligence on the ice. He made some great plays today. There was one on the PK where there was a read we needed to get him to close on quicker, but throughout the game, he had really good sticks. He is in good positions.
For a guy who has had no practices and was learning our system this morning on video and then had to play the center-ice position, I thought he did a really good job.
I like what both guys bring.
On Timothy Liljegren’s performance on a pairing with Edmundson:
I thought the sequence that led to his penalty was a tough moment in the game for him and for our team. Those are the kinds of things we have to keep working with him to eliminate from his game.
I thought they had a real good first period for us and were not as good after that. I think that will continue to grow.
As I talked about this morning, I think this is a key time for Lily. If you go back to the last two years at the trade deadline, each time, we have added and it has essentially pushed him out of the lineup, which I thought affected his growth and his confidence.
At the time, I felt we did it out of necessity. We needed to get deeper there, but I think Lily has taken a step through this season and has played really well at times. At times, he has taken a step back.
I think part of that is probably the trade deadline hanging over his head a little bit. We are through that now. We have a veteran player such as Edmundson coming in. That is why it was important for Lily to play tonight. When Tre built the team out, these were the six guys and how it was built.
We love the depth that Benoit has brought to us and his ability to come in, but Lily playing tonight was important and it is important for us to continue to work with him. Obviously, Benoit is going to keep the group hungry as are Giordano and Timmins as they continue to work their way back to health.
