Sheldon Keefe Calls Out Star Players

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Pat Quinn
October 17, 2023 (9:42)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 4-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks Monday night. John Tavares was the lone goal scorer, with Mark Giordano and William Nylander picking up the helpers.

How the stars fared

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, and John Klingberg were all minus two on the night.

Keefe had this to say about the game:

I thought we were really sloppy with the puck in the first period and then got beat in transition in the second period. That is really it.

After saying this in regards to his stars:

...it's all just careless with the puck, and it is all of our best players. Really, really careless to start the game. That didn't give us a chance to take hold of the game like you want to be able to do on home ice.

Calling out the stars

Sheldon Keefe had no problem discussing some criticism of his star players, starting with William Nylander:

[Nylander] was good with the puck. He made a mistake on the transition on the one goal against. He is playing D, and he has to play D and let our guys recover.
Offensively, especially in the second and third periods Our best guys got going in the second and third periods. None of us were good in the first.
The second period was actually a fairly dominant period for us. We were beaten in transition and gave them free looks. They scored. That is sort of the tale of the game.

Keefe discussed how the team still needs to work on the defensive side of the ice.

We just have to continue to focus on the things that we have been focusing on. The next game we play is not going to be like this one. We had the puck probably 75% of the game tonight. That is not going to happen when we go out on the road. The game is going to be different.
If we focus too much on some of the things that happened tonight, we won't be ready for the next opponent. We will just keep doing the things we have been doing.
It is going to be a tough road trip for us. Quality opponents. Going down to Florida, we are familiar with what we are up against there. We will just focus on that.

As Read On Maple Leafs Hot Stove - Sheldon Keefe Post Game, Blackhawks 4 vs. Leafs 1: «Really, really careless with the puck to start the game, and it was all our best players»