'Nothing Wrong With Our Effort Level': Sheldon Keefe Defends Sluggish Maple Leafs Start in Game 4 Loss Against Bruins
Fans at Scotiabank Arena booed their Maple Leafs hard at the end of 40 period as the club trailed and mustered nothing at Boston's net.
As the seconds wound down at the end of the second period, the sold-out Saturday night crowd expecting a pushback from their Toronto Maple Leafs rained boos on their beloved team, deriding them for a lack of perceived effort from the club.
The Maple Leafs trailed the Boston Bruins 3-0 after two periods and couldn't generate much at the opposition's net. They watched as their top players engaged in a shouting match on the bench. It also didn't help that their best player, Auston Matthews.
But Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe pointed the issue at a lack of execution over the effort.
"Nothing wrong with our effort level here tonight," Keefe insisted. "Guys are competing. It's physical hockey. Guys are trying. It's a good team over there. It's limiting us. You can question a lot of things, can't question the effort."
These comments don't sit well for a club that has scored just seven goals through the first four games of their series with the Bruins. Their power-play is 1-for-14 in the series and their penalty kill has also struggled, allowing six goals on 13 opportunities.
Maple Leafs defenseman says not to mistake the low-event nature of the game between two talented teams as a lack of effort.
"I don't think we came out flat. We come in with a game plan. Both teams are extremely competitive, it's been a close series," Rielly said. "I think our team's in a good spot. We feel like we are playing hard, we're getting our chances, it's not going to net, there's areas that are clean up, but we're gonna keep pushing."
The Leafs are just not getting chanced at the middle of the ice, something that has been a calling card of theirs for regular season success. Are they straying from their team game and trying to get things done individually?
"I don't think that at all. We're all trying to make plays out there to try to help the team win games. So that's how we all think in here and that's how it is."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS32NBrLbw0[/embed]
Maybe there is a simple answer. It could just be that the club, in its current form, is just not good enough If Toronto loses Game 5, or even this first-round series, the team could finally go through a shakeup that had not been seen before. Keefe would definitely be on the hot seat after surviving in his first year under new GM Brad Treliving.
After that's, it's anyone's guess. But saying there was nothing wrong with the effort level when over 18,000 in attendance disagreed with you rings a bit hollow.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRt7R92xpXs[/embed]
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