Keefe calls out Leafs' effort after loss to Blue Jackets
On some nights over the past few seasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs look wholly unbeatable: a true Stanley Cup contender, and very much like the competitive team the fanbase has long longed for.
Last night was not one of those nights.
Toronto fell 4-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on home ice on Saturday, after coughing up a 2-0 lead they held entering the second period.
Toronto sits fourth in the NHL with 72 points, while the Jackets have exactly half that after last night: just 36 and a record of 16-33-4.
And count Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe in the camp of people finding the loss relatively inexplicable.
“I canāt [explain the result],” Keefe told reporters following the game. “You guys talked to the players. Iām sure you asked them the same questions. I canāt do the work for them.”
The loss came just 24 hours after a dominant 3-0 win by the Leafs over the Blue Jackets on Friday night in Columbus.
On Saturday, it was a different story, as Toronto was outshot 40-29 by Columbus. The team fought back with a third period marker to make the game tied at three goals apiece in the third period with a goal by Morgan Rielly. But less than three minutes later, Columbus’ Kent Johnson scored the game-winning goal and the 4-3 lead.
“They have to make a decision as to how important it is to them. That is really it,” Keefe added about what he told the team down 3-2 in the second intermission.
But despite his displeasure with the result and his team’s effort, Keefe didn’t call out particular players, including Pierre Engvall who he benched for portions of the third period.
“It is not just Pierre. It is the whole line,” Keefe said. “Those guys, in particular, were our best line [on Friday night against Jackets.] They had good things happening tonight as well, but we need to be able to really consistentlyā¦ That is what that line has to do. They have to be competitive. They have to be great defensively. They have to be physical. When all of that slips, it is not acceptable. It is really as simple as that.”
The Leafs’ next three games will offer them plenty of opportunity to prove they’re capable of beating lesser teams, as they play Chicago twice and Montreal once over the next week. But for now, it’s three days off to ponder what exactly cost them so dearly against a team currently leading the charge in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes.
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