After their effort was called out by their starting goalie on Saturday, the Maple Leafs are seeking a response against Sheldon Keefe’s New Jersey Devils — who are winners of four straight — tonight at Scotiabank Arena (7:00 p.m. EST, TSN4).
Game Day Quotes
Sheldon Keefe on the chemistry between Domi and Matthews:
Max will be excited. Auston really enjoyed that connection when those guys were matched together. I like the line; I like the look of it. We didn’t get to it until later in the season. Mitch was injured at the time, if I recall correctly. It fits that way.
Whoever plays alongside Auston and Knies…. With the steps Knies has taken, he has changed the dynamic of this team a lot with the skill set and size he has to pair with Auston. It will be a big focus coming in here, as it always is.
Craig Berube on the fit between Max Domi and Auston Matthews:
I think the chemistry is there. I don’t believe it’s not there. It is just a matter of executing and doing the right things to make it work, right? They know each other. They have been around each other. They’ve played with each other. I am not so much worried about the chemistry, but it’s just about executing and doing the right things.
Keefe on what he is expecting from the Maple Leafs after Anthony Stolarz called out his team following their loss to Seattle:
I expect a motivated opponent for a lot of reasons. From my time here, any time something like that occurs, the group rallies and comes out with a great effort.
With our group, we just have to continue to get better. We have had a tough schedule in terms of the quality of opponents we’ve played. It is not new for us in that way. We just have to go out with a similar type of mindset, but make sure we are good for 60 minutes.
Max Domi on the chemistry between him and Auston Matthews:
I’ve played with him on and off throughout the last three years. It is not going anywhere, that is for sure.
He is one of the best players in the world. He makes it pretty easy on you. We are very close off the ice. I am a big fan of him as a player.
I am just trying to help him any way I can. He is a pure goal scorer. He loves to get to those areas. My job is to get him the puck.
Steven Lorentz on his comfort level at center ice:
It is something I am familiar with. I played a couple of years in Carolina, and I was kind of all over the map there. In San Jose, I was a center for quite a while. It is definitely not something that is new to me. I am very comfortable taking faceoffs.
The big thing is the defensive-zone coverage. It is almost like less is more. You don’t want to get running around too much and run yourself out of gas. You have to be a little more patient and survey the defense. I talked to some of those guys, and we have some veterans back there who will help me out when finding the right spots. They can see the whole play in front of them. They’ll be very good at helping me out.
There is going to be… Maybe not a learning curve, but maybe some small mistakes along the way. That is the name of the game. I am excited to get back. It will be a good challenge for me.
Keefe on his team’s four-game winning streak since their season-opening loss:
We have found some different ways to win games. The foundation is that the penalty kill is extremely strong, even though we have taken too many penalties. It has really helped us. It has continued from last season, which has been really great to see in the early going. It will be put to the test today.
There is also how we have managed games at different times. We have been behind and stayed with it, not allowing teams to really build leads on us, and then eventually taking over. Or we’ve controlled play from the start and managed the game throughout. All of those things have been really good, and it has all been a very good response to what was a really poor outing in game one to start the season. We’ve liked where we have gone from there.
As I said to our guys, through five games, we have liked our results, but our process, our details, and our structure have to get to another level if we want to be able to sustain our play. That is what we have been talking about.
Domi on the inspiration provided by the Blue Jays:
It is inspiring, man. If you are not a baseball fan, it doesn’t matter. If you are watching that game, everyone has chills. If you don’t, you are missing a heartbeat, for sure.
Seeing how the city responds to it and listening to each guy’s interview is really cool for me as an athlete. You really see how much they love each other.
That is what got them to where they are. Of course, they have the skill, the talent, and everything, but they all seemed to think the most important thing was how tight they are.
We know we have a tight group in here as well. We are going to cheer these guys on and take care of business on our end as well.
Lorentz on the inspiring run from the Jays:
It is outside motivation, right? When it comes to playoff time, you see the support. There are extra bodies in the seats and outside. I am sure all of the bars are filled with people who are rooting and cheering. I had some buddies out, and you could see the Instagrams and Snapchats. People were going nuts when Springer hit the home run.
The Jays get that. We get that when we are doing well, too. It is a sports city. That is no secret. It is nice when we can feed off the energy that the Jays are bringing — the buzz to the city.
Chris Tanev on the lessons drawn from the Jays:
I don’t know if there is a connection between what is happening here and there, but it is amazing to see. You learn from watching and listening. There are so many little things that go into the success of a team — a lot of teams that maybe people don’t talk about, but you can watch, pick up, and see a great team doing in order to win.
No one talks about the Gimenez bunt because Springer hit a home run, but no one bunts anymore, really. He laid a great bunt. There was Barger walking to get on. Little things like that — not trying to hit a home run, but being happy to get on base and let his teammates help him get home and make the game closer. There are so many little things like that, just like the little things that go into a hockey game. You watch and learn from it.
It is really cool for the fans, the team, and the city to experience that.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies – #34 Auston Matthews – #11 Max Domi
#63 Matias Maccelli – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander
#81 Dakota Joshua – #55 Nicolas Roy – #74 Bobby McMann
#89 Nick Robertson – #18 Steven Lorentz – #19 Calle Jarnkrok
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe – #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly – #25 Brandon Carlo
#2 Simon Benoit – #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Goaltenders
Starter: #41 Anthony Stolarz
#30 Cayden Primeau
Extras: Easton Cowan, Philippe Myers, Sammy Blais
Injured: Scott Laughton (week-to-week, LBI)
Out: Joseph Woll (personal)
New Jersey Devils Projected Lines
Forwards
#18 Ondrej Palat – #86 Jack Hughes – #63 Jesper Blatt
#28 Timo Meier – #13 Nico Hischier – #91 Dawson Mercer
#81 Arseny Gritsyuk – #12 Cody Glass – #16 Connor Brown
#47 Paul Cotter – #14 Luke Glendening – #48 Brian Halonen
Defensemen
#43 Luke Hughes – #22 Brett Pesce
#71 Jonas Siegenthaler – #7 Dougie Hamilton
#5 Brendan Dillon – #17 Simon Nemec
Goaltenders
Starter: #34 Jake Allen
#50 Nico Daws
Injured/Out: Jacob Markstrom, Evgenii Dadonov, Stefan Noesen, Johnathan Kovacevic
