SADLY: maple leaf head coach make a horrible decision………

Keefe: I think he has done a good job of it, which is why we have stayed with it. A lot of the heavy lifting comes from Auston and Mitch, but he — without a doubt — has an important role to play on both sides of the puck. He does a lot of work to get up the ice on the forecheck. A lot of the time, he is the disruptor who creates loose pucks for them and is getting pucks out on the wall and breakouts.

In terms of how he is handling it, I think he is handling it fine, but it is something that we have to be aware of. That is why, at times, I pull back his minutes despite the fact that he primarily plays on that line. There is a major discrepancy in their minutes, and it is not always just power play-related. Even at five-on-five, we’re trying to lighten that load a little bit and give him a chance to breathe. He has given us everything he has on every shift. On the bench, sometimes, it looks like he needs a bit of a breath.

 

Keefe: I think we have to do it for longer than we have, but I think we showed tremendous growth through that. We have shown tremendous capacity to play the way we need to play and do it for a period of time. To me, that time has to grow. We have to do it for longer.

 

In the Boston game, there are big momentum swings. Aside from the breakaway we gave up right on the opening shift in the first 10 seconds — [Liljegren] slips, and we can’t get over to the middle — I thought we got through that and got a save. Our next eight minutes of play were really, really strong. And then we had a power play, the momentum switches, and now we are on our heels. We slip a little bit in our details and physicality while the other team is pushing.

 

That is the kind of stuff that we have to find greater consistency to do the necessary things for a longer period of time both in a game and over the schedule. Before we went on the road, we started at home and had some really good efforts. We built on that and continued to grow our game through our long road trip there. Coming back home, it has been a little bit more up and down. We have to really work toward that consistency level in this building, in particular.

 

 

Keefe: He will be a game-time decision. He is feeling better today. It looks like we are going through it again here. It is catching up to us again with some of these illnesses. We have some others that will be game-time decisions tonight.

 

Buffalo beat up on your team pretty good earlier this season. Is that something that is a motivating factor or is it so long ago that it’s not really top of mind?

 

Keefe: It less about the motivating or whatever. I don’t think you are focused on that. We are in a much better place as a team than when we were then. But it gets your attention. That is what it is about.

 

Advertisements

Ezoic

We have given up 15 goals against this team in two games. It is one of the most skilled teams in this league. If you don’t defend and don’t take care of the puck — and you make it easy on them — they make you look bad. It is not just us. It is teams across the league. When they are at their best and the game goes their way, that is what they do.

 

We have to respect it with how we play. We have to adapt and be aware of the style of game. It is a different type of game than when you play against them with the skill they have. The game tends to be wide open. We have to manage that.

 

Even going back to many of your predecessors, the Buffalo-Toronto rivalry seems to bring out the Sabres’ best.

 

Advertisements

Ezoic

Keefe: I don’t think it is any surprise for anyone who is here that we get teams’ best when they come to Toronto when it is a rival like that. When we go in there, we fill their building with our fans. There are lots of reasons for them to be at their best. There are lots of reasons for us to be at our best as well.

 

 

Keefe: Just the confidence and swagger that he’s got. That is a big part of his game. He has been building on that even though he has been through some tough times here. He has found his way thro

ugh it. He has done the work.

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*