Keefe called out the experienced players for their "immature play" in letting their game slip away against a talented offensive team.
Keefe called out the experienced players for their "immature play" in letting their game slip away against a talented offensive team.
Sheldon Keefe has seen his team let games slip away. But what made the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach fume following his team's 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, was seeing his team give away the puck after an opening period that saw them record a season-high 25 shots on goal.
"Instead of having a strong period and building on it and continuing to do the things that we had done well, I thought we just overdid it," Keefe lamented. "It was just really immature, really immature all the way through our game. I thought it was immature from our most experienced players and our leaders. And then our players who are immature, our inexperienced guys...we made lots of mistakes here today."
When asked if he felt this was a one-off performance, Keefe quickly referenced the team's past and again pointed the finger at the experienced players.
"Well, it has happened a lot for our group over the years. And I'm talking about the experienced people. And that came back tonight, And I thought the game invited it," Keefe said. "I just thought we got incredibly sloppy, careless, and that's disappointing."
With 11 games to go, including two more against the Devils, the Maple Leafs will look to regroup. But they've picked up no points over the last two games. During his pre-game media availability, the Maple Leafs coach stressed the important of continuing to play hard own the stretch, saying his club has yet to clinch anything.
Over the last two games, the Leafs have no points to show for it. And he pointed the finger as the core
"They got to be the example," Keefe said. "John Tavares has been the example for us. He's been outstanding for us for a long period of time. He himself got carried away tonight. That's our captain. So if that's going to happen, well, like the rest of our bench is now, we're just making it up as we go. When you do that, you open the door for the opposition to have a good night. And they did that. And I thought the last goal at the end of the third period there, that's indicative of our second and third periods."
Auston Matthews echoed Keefe's comments about the team's play being "immature". William Nylander called the sloppiness "rattling". Both players scored goals. But in the end the Devils talent got the better of Toronto.
"Jack Hughes gets two breakaways. You're not winning the game if that's going to be the case. So hated lots about our game tonight. And hopefully, the players hate it just as much or more than I do."
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