Sheldon Keefe spoke to the media after the Maple Leafs lost 4-3 in overtime to the Chicago Blackhawks, dropping the team’s record to 10-5-3.
On how the match ran away from the team:
We didn’t score enough early chances. He could have made two or three shots in the first three minutes of the game. We couldn’t take advantage of that.
I didn’t give up too much here today. It was one of the fewest scoring chances we’ve allowed this season, but when we finally put the puck on our sticks and it went into our net, they scored three goals.
That made things easier for them.
About Matthews line performance:
Tonight wasn’t their night. I didn’t have it.
On giving extra time to Nick Robertson and Max Domi:
I thought Domi and Robertson gave us a lot here today. That line was good. Jarnkrok was good. Most of the night they were chasing them around with Bedard. They did a good job in that matchup as well. They scored early for us.
We were trying to give them a chance to win the game there. Max won the match. It didn’t work out for us, but they played a good game for us.
On Ryan Reeves taking the ice for his first goal after scoring his first goal of the season and snapping his 11th consecutive goal streak:
Huge. Everyone was happy for him. It was very good. It shows the influence he had on the group. The players are pulling for him. He thought it was a good night.
As for whether he’s losing patience with too many penalties or whether it’s mostly due to the situation, he said:
No, I’m running out of patience.
On how he plans to address the issue of too many penalties:
Already dealt with.
On William Nylander’s near miss in OT:
It just wasn’t our night, you know?
On the team’s energy level and whether the first game back from the trip to Sweden was a factor:
i don’t think so. There were probably two best practices throughout the season in terms of pace, tempo and competitiveness. It showed me they were above that. Let’s not go here tonight. That’s not it.
