Alex Kerfoot Reflects on Game 6, Aims to Help Maple Leafs Push Forward to Playoffs Success

A costly turnover and a poorly-timed penalty helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win Game 6 in their series against the Toronto Maple Leafs before advancing to Game 7.

During his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Alex Kerfoot has taken a lot of heat from the outside.

Arguably one of Toronto's most versatile players, the forward been at the center of a lot of speculation as the club reaches an annual deadline to get under the NHL's salary cap.

With one-year remaining on a contract that carries a $3.5 million salary-cap hit, dealing with the potential of being moved can be stressful enough on its own. But ending his season on a couple of costly mistakes certainly doesn't make it easier.

"You've got to wash it out," he said on Friday. "The series didn't go the way we wanted it to (but) once the season is done, it's done. And you just have to focus on getting better. I care a lot about this game, this sport, this team. I want to do my best for this group, and I just got to continue to do that day by day."

The Maple Leafs were up 3-2 in their best-of-seven series with the Tampa Bay Lightning with a chance to win a playoff round for the first time since 2004. 

With the game tied 0-0 late in the first period, Kerfoot flipped the puck back into his own zone while on a breakout. None of his teammates were there to receive it. That led to an unassisted goal from Ondrej Palat.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSg78WbIhJk[/embed]

Later in the game with his team up 3-2 and on the penalty kill, Kerfoot took a high-sticking penalty that put his team down two men midway through the third period.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9LvCRT2Ht0[/embed]

Tampa's Nikita Kucherov tied in on that opportunity before teammate Brayden Point won the game in overtime.

"I mean my emotions were not great, you never want to be on that side of things," Kerfoot reflected. "It's different in a team sport than it is in an individual sport because in an individual sport you can live with those mistakes a little bit easier because it's all on you.

"In a team sport if you make a mistake like that, it impacts the group, it impacts your organization and impacts the fan base that cares so much about this team."

During the off-season, Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas elected to keep his roster mostly intact. While several players departed for free agency, everyone who was under contract has stayed on with the club this far.

It's a continued endorsement after the Leafs hit franchise highs in points (115) and wins (54).

"The regular season doesn't mean nothing, right? It's important," Kerfoot said.  "We've won a lot of games the last couple of years. We've proved that we can go up against teams. It's hard to win playoff series in this league. We know that better than anyone right now."

Kerfoot's versatility will be depended on again as the club tries to figure out what its bottom six looks like when the regular season starts on Oct. 12. There is that possibility he can move up the lineup to play with familiar linemates William Nylander and John Tavares.

The Leafs also used Kerfoot on the first line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner for a brief period when Michael Bunting was out with an injury.

Pierre Engvall is currently out with a foot injury and is expected to be re-evaluated on Oct. 3.

And there is the salary cap, which will also dictate what the team looks like.

"We still have a lot of competition here, that speaks to the depth that we've accumulated," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "There's the guys who have made progress at the American (Hockey) League level and guys like (Adam) Gaudette and (Nicholas) Aube-Kubel that are coming here with something to prove.

"It's a good mix all the way through and there are so many spots available and the salary cap will play a role on how things play out."