After an optional skate on Sunday, Sheldon Keefe discussed the areas for improvement ahead of Game 2.
What is the key to bouncing back in Game 2?
Keefe: Continue to believe in what we are doing, get to our game more frequently, and clean up the details with the discipline, minimizing the penalties that we take, and executing better on special teams. That is really it.
Is that a conversation you need to have with the team, or do they know where the issues lie?
Keefe: We had a lengthy meeting. We digested the game and talked about the things we wanted to do better and the things that we did well and needed to do more frequently. We’ll rest today and get back at it tomorrow.
What do you think the reason was for the carelessness with the stick penalties last night?
Keefe: Sometimes in hockey, sticks rise. We got two high-sticking penalties. It happens at times. You can’t have it happen at this time of year. These things happen in the regular season as well, but you have to be more responsible with it.
I don’t think we can make too big of a deal out of that. To me, we had one penalty that was certainly within our control. We don’t want to take that [Domi penalty] off the faceoff, but I love Max’s initiative, competitiveness, physicality, and the passion he brought to the team yesterday. He just crossed the line there. It was probably more of a reflection of the fact that we were already down three at that point.
We talk about it, but given the way the penalties have piled up, it goes without saying.
Has William Nylander been able to skate since the team has been in Boston?
Keefe: No updates on Willy.
How is Nylander holding up? It has to be pretty tough after playing all 82 games in the regular season.
Keefe: No updates on Willy.
Will you go back to Ilya Samsonov tomorrow?
Keefe: No updates on goaltending.
How seriously are you considering lineup changes?
Keefe: No updates on the lineup.
You were in a similar spot last year against Tampa. What do you draw from last spring and how the team fought back?
Keefe: It is a playoff series. You have to be able to bounce back. You have to be able to move on. You make your adjustments, and you get back at it. That is really it. You can’t get too worked up about it. Whether the game finishes the way it did last night or if you lose the game in overtime, you are still down 1-0. You have to be able to deal with it.
We have been through this. We have bounced back well. We have an opportunity to do that tomorrow.
What did you think about the performance of your fourth line? They were caught out there for the first goal, but they got one back in the third period.
Keefe: Those guys have been excellent. Regarding the plan going in and the things we have talked about as a group that are really important to us—and are going to be important in the series—those guys went out and executed it well.
Yeah, they got a little overexcited with the contact early on the first shift, but those guys worked extremely well together. They forechecked. They got chances. They scored a big goal — or at least a goal — to get us going in the third period with a really good process.
The line has a really clear identity, and they are sticking with it. That has been really good.
You mentioned the power play was disconnected in Game 1. Is that a byproduct of Nylander’s absence?
Keefe: It is part of it, but our power play hasn’t been great for a period of time now.
The 4-on-3 was decent. We had some pretty good looks in and around the net. We got some pucks in there. We spent a lot of time in the offensive zone. On the other [power plays], it was not enough time in the zone. By the time we got in and got settled, now the guys were a little more fatigued. That tends to slow you down in and of itself.
Being cleaner in the neutral zone and on the entries is important. That would be an area where you would miss Willy for sure, but the other guys are more than capable of finding their way through that.
What did you make of Mitch Marner’s Game 1?
Keefe: I thought Mitch made some plays and got the puck to good spots at different times. He got some deliveries for us to get the puck to the net. I thought he was like a lot of our game and a lot of our other guys — at times, he was really good, but he needed to do it more consistently and more frequently.
Whether it is him or the rest of our team, as we have gone through it, our plan and approach do not need to change. We just need to execute it more consistently and trust it. The guys who did had success in the game did that, while the guys who didn’t didn’t have as much [success].
Brad Treliving brought in Ryan Reaves partly for the locker room presence. In moments like this, what have you learned about how he can help the group through the adversity?
Keefe: He has a lot of confidence. He has been through it a lot. He has played over 100 playoff games. Those experiences are important. Probably even more important than that, he really has his own game in order. He has a very clear role on the team. He has the ability to speak up and talk to the group. He was a very vocal guy yesterday.
Whether it is Reaves, Jarnkrok, or Edmundson — guys who have played a lot and a guy who has won in Edmundson’s case — you need those experiences. We have a number of other guys who, with our team specifically, have been through a lot.
It is a playoff series. We have to be able to bounce back. At the same time, we can’t overreact or get overly emotional about one loss. We just have to get right back to it and trust the group.
