Sheldon Keefe: “We Haven’t Clinched Anything”: The Reasons the Maple Leafs Won’t Let Up Before the Playoffs
“We haven’t clinched anything, so we had this conversation after our win in Philadelphia before getting ready for that Washington game. At this moment, nothing is certain. And that’s how we have to go about it,” Sheldon Keefe, head coach of the Maple Leafs, stated on Tuesday morning.
“We need to approach everything we do here with a sense of urgency every day, every shift, and every practice.” We’re going into it thinking that we can figure out a way to secure a spot and all that kind of stuff. But you must carry it out. To do that, you have to make the most of every single day. And it’s certainly crucial to do so in order to maintain those points and our position.”
Keefe wants to see the Maple Leafs have a strong game come playoff time, regardless of where they are in the standings.
“We just have a well-organized game. This creates a little bit of adversity inside the squad because you’re fighting all those kinds of things on top of the injuries and individuals coming in and out of the lineup that we’ve had,” the man stated. “So that in itself has gotten our attention at key moments.”
Keefe does not want his team to perform like they did on March 19 against the Philadelphia Flyers, losing 3-0 before making a comeback in the third period, maybe too late.
“There were a number of things about that game that disappointed me. I felt we did a good job responding in Washington, and we did a great job responding in Edmonton. There are many reasons why the Carolina game is difficult.
“It’s not quite the same as what happened in Philadelphia, even though there were aspects of that game that I didn’t like. We certainly competed well, and I believe we went into that with good intentions. Perhaps we were playing against a very good team, and we simply didn’t have our legs. But tonight, in my opinion, let’s continue to build on our previous endeavor here. This team also possesses explosive offensive capabilities.
“If you give them easy ice in transition, they’ll make you pay.” Thus, there are many reasons why we should be focused on this tonight and make an effort akin to Edmonton’s.”
In their game against the Oilers on Saturday night, the Maple Leafs led 5-0 thanks to goals from Bobby McMann, Pontus Holmberg, and Nylander.
In the end, Toronto prevailed 6-3, keeping Edmonton from fully recovering in the match. And that’s how Keefe envisions the players playing in the future.
“I believe that from the beginning, we wanted to control the play because we knew we were a superior team. After Toronto’s victory over Edmonton on Saturday, McMann remarked, “I think we did that, and I’m proud of us for that.” “They have some skilled players, and they push back a little bit, but we took it to them enough that it didn’t matter.”