New Jersey head coach Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team’s 4-0 loss to the Maple Leafs, the Devils’ fourth loss in a row.
On the message to his players after a fourth straight loss:
I didn’t talk to the team after the game. I’ll talk to them in the morning. But it is more of the same. We have to find a way to get some pucks to fall in for us. We had to execute better on the chances that we do get. We had some really clean looks in really good spots, and we either missed the net or hit the goaltender in the chest. That is kind of the way it has been going.
On the flip side, they get a couple of power-play goals, and on the third goal, it is probably going three feet wide, hits off [Siegenthaler], and goes in our own net. It is kind of the way it is going.
We have to keep working and find our way out of it. There is no use in feeling sorry for ourselves. We played a fine enough game, but there were two on the penalty kill, the power play doesn’t get it over the line, and we had nothing to show at five-on-five for all of the puck time and chances we had, so you lose.
It is no different than what we have been going through. We’ve been through this cycle before, found our way back, and won four of six. Now, this is two coming out of the break — two in which we played well enough to win the games, but it is not going our way. We have to stay with it and keep the group positive.
The group has to keep believing, but the guys have also got to work harder, work smarter, and finish their chances.
On Nico Hischier fighting Matthew Knies with the score at 2-0 Toronto in the third period:
Listen, do I want our captain and one of our best players fighting when we are down 2-0 in the third period? Absolutely not. Do we need some guys to step up, show some emotion, and show some balls, play with some urgency and competitiveness, and step out of character? Yeah, we need more of that.
To that end, I like it. I like that Nico did it.
Hopefully, it rubs off on the rest of the group in a positive way. I didn’t think it did in that moment, but if you want to talk about gut checks, there is one. Your captain is out there, taking on a big guy and stepping out of character.
We will see what we have with our group, but we need more guys who are going to show a little bit more. If you are not going to score, give us a little bit more competitively, physically, and show that you are going out of your way. There is not enough of that. We are just sort of going about our business.
“DOWN GOES HISCHIER”
KNIES vs HISCHIER FIGHT (fixed audio) pic.twitter.com/glGF3XHYAF
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) December 31, 2025
On the Devils conceding a goal on the shift after the Hischier-Knies fight:
As I said, the guy shot it, and it was going three feet wide. It went off our defenseman and in the net. Yeah, we could’ve handled the breakout part better, but as I said, if it doesn’t hit him, it goes in the corner, and I don’t know — maybe we break it out, and something good happens. Who knows?
You can overreact to situations like that, but just physically and competitively, I didn’t think we met the moment in response to our captain stepping up like that.
