Sheldon Keefe’s tone when he addressed the media on Friday was far different than he had less than 24 hours prior.
The Toronto Maple Leafs head coach gave a blank stare. He had little to say in a very brief postgame press conference following a 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night in Game 2 of their second-round series.
With the Maple Leafs trailing 0-2 and heading to Florida for the next two games, Keefe said his team has the confidence to come back. The two teams will meet on Sunday, in the third game of the series.
“There is certainly no doubt within our group, he said during a videoconference. Obviously there are things we need to do better and wish we had managed better in the first two games in Toronto. But they are now a thing of the past. “
“We have the opportunity to go on the road, where we are comfortable and where we are confident because of the results obtained during the last series. That said, it doesn’t make things any easier. “, he added.
The Torontonians lost the first game 4-2. They allowed two goals after tying the game 2-2. In the second game, they took an early 2-0 lead and were leading by one goal in the second period when the Panthers scored twice within 47 seconds.
The Maple Leafs are 1-4 at home since the start of the playoffs, compared to a 3-0 record on the road.
“I would like an answer on this. I think if we had one, we would be in a better position,” forward Ryan O’Reilly said of the Maple Leafs’ performance at home. “We are all disappointed, obviously. To be behind 2-0 is not what we wanted. “
“It’s a long series and there’s still a lot of hockey to play. We have to keep building our game and getting better the further we go in the series. I’m not worried. “
The Toronto squad lost 7-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first game of their first-round series. She then signed three victories in a row to eventually triumph in six games. Three of those wins have come on the road and in overtime.
Keefe credits those battles with helping shape the team’s hardened approach to adversity.
“Our group has been resilient. We saw that toughness that you refer to in the last series,” Keefe said. “When we are behind in games, the guys stay focused and they find a way to score. “
The Panthers found their rhythm through the efforts of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and a solid forecheck. The 2013 and 2017 Vezina Trophy winner returned to his starting job in Game 4 of the first-round series against the Boston Bruins, after losing it late in the season to Alex Lyon.
After a loss in Game 4, Bobrovsky guided the Panthers to five straight wins.
“We could always do more, that’s for sure,” Keefe noted. “Let it be shooting through traffic so that we can make his life more difficult. We had several good shooting lines, where it’s just the shooter against the keeper. Much more than in the previous series. So we have to find ways to convert them. “
As for the Panthers’ forecheck, Keefe admitted it caused the Maple Leafs problems, especially in Game 2.
“They were one of the best teams in the NHL in forechecking this season and it’s continuing in the playoffs. The nature of some of our turnovers yesterday put us in very bad situations. That’s what was disappointing because that’s what we really tried to avoid. These are big mistakes. Keefe observed.
The Panthers have won five of their six road playoff games and are 1-2 at home.
Although he is ready to feel the energy of his home crowd, head coach Paul Maurice said the feeling within the team was not “rich and royal”.
“At no time in the last nine games have we felt like we’ve dominated the game. We’ve played our style and we should win. Even with the victory, we didn’t leave the arena last night thinking that we had put them in their place. We worked hard. “, underlined Maurice in videoconference.
The Maple Leafs will need to do the same to keep their playoff run alive.
