Leafs coach Keefe explains what he said to Campbell during blowout loss
Sheldon Keefe knew that Jack Campbell didn’t quite have it tonight for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Just two nights after lauding him for a game-saving stop on Steven Stamkos, Keefe ended up pulling Campbell midway through the second period.
With Toronto down 5-0 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the midst of a 7-3 loss, Campbell was called over to the Leafs’ bench in order to be replaced by rookie Erik Källgren.
But Campbell didn’t quite exit the ice before a long chat with Keefe before eventually sitting down on the bench.
Keefe and Campbell have a conversation as he's pulled pic.twitter.com/C7yktjrW41
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) May 9, 2022
Campbell gave up his five goals on just 16 shots, including the opening goal less than a minute into the opening frame off the stick of Stamkos.
“I wanted to talk with Jack [before pulling him.] It was just more so a mindset,” Keefe told reporters postgame. “We need him to be good for the next game… I wanted to be sure that he wasn’t feeling like he really wanted to finish the game and have a good showing or anything like that.”
Here’s Keefe talking about the meeting on the bench with Campbell.
“I just made it clear to him it’s obviously a long way to come back, and that he’d be good to go for the next game.” pic.twitter.com/trih5SsyVI
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) May 9, 2022
“I just made it clear to him, it’s obviously a long way to come back and be good to go for the next game,” Keefe added. “I had made the decision a few minutes prior.”
Källgren stopped all 10 shots he faced, though Tampa added a pair of empty net goals to seal the game.
Campbell said he’s hoping to bounce back in Game 5, with the series now tied 2-2.
“I’ll just learn from what I did wrong and be ready to do some great things next game,” Campbell said. “I always want to battle, but I always respect the coach’s decision.”
Game 5 goes Tuesday night in Toronto, with puck drop set for 7:30 pm ET at Scotiabank Arena.