Category: Uncategorized

SHELDON KEEFE

Q. Kristen Shilton, TSN: Where did you see things start to slip away from your group to end up with the result you did tonight?

Sheldon Keefe: I would say towards the end of the first period it started to get away on us. I thought through the first period we could have very easily been up at least two or three nothing with some of them point blank chances that we had and missed. I’m not sure whether that discouraged us or maybe made us think it was going to be a little bit easier night. Don’t know what it was but they had a real strong push coming out of one of the TV timeouts there in the first and I thought we were really disconnected and played tired in the tail end of our shifts for the remainder of the game. We didn’t make good on the chances that we earned in the first period. We had more than enough offence there in the first to blow the game wide open and didn’t capitalize or didn’t go our way. Our game was a mess from there.

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: What kind of spin did special teams have tonight? Just one power play in the whole game. I guess a silver lining would be you didn’t take any, but what do you feel about that situation?

Sheldon Keefe: We had our opportunity. I thought our power play, again, that maybe is an area you could look at where things started to go south on us a little bit. We were really disconnected there and just continued that way. We really struggled to string together passes after that, which I found just really bizarre because I thought at the start of the game, the way we were making plays and moving the puck was as good we’ve looked for quite some time. Then it just got away on us there. A lot of things have been going our way here for a long while. Today it didn’t and we didn’t help our own cause. We’ve got to regroup and get ourselves ready for what’s going to be a very difficult three games against Ottawa. 

Q. Luke Fox, Sportsnet: Montreal had over 45 hits. How much do you think their physicality either tired you out or made you get out of sync a little bit?

Sheldon Keefe: Yeah, I think that would be a factor, for sure. I thought the way we started the game and things were coming relatively easy for us off the start and we didn’t make good on it. I think it just allowed them to get into the game and they were probably a little frustrated with the way that the game started and they just started to focus on physicality. I do think that’s part of what just made us tired and had us playing on the back half of our shift tired. We had real long shift lengths and stuff like that where we just couldn’t get off the ice, couldn’t string together passes. I think that was a factor in the game, for sure. 

Q. Terry Koshan, Toronto Sun: Where’s your satisfaction at with the production you’re getting from the second and third line at 5-on-5?

Sheldon Keefe: I think we’d like to see more for sure. I don’t think we’re satisfied. I don’t think the players would be satisfied with it. That said, I think there are a lot of good things happening, especially when I look at JT’s game defensively in comparison to a year ago or a season ago in terms of how he’s playing, the structure he’s playing with, what he’s not giving up defensively. There’s a trade-off there for sure and he like a lot of other guys on our team are trying to find their way to create offense without giving that defensive stuff up. Last season we were creating a ton with our second line and giving up a ton so we’re trying to find a better balance there and the defensive side of it has been good. Tonight again we didn’t give up very much at all again tonight and we had more than enough offence generated in the first period and we didn’t make good on it and you don’t win in this league by playing one period or three quarters of a period.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: Auston mentioned Carey Price’s ability to play the puck on dump-ins disrupts the rhythm. Did you sense that as well?

Sheldon Keefe: Yeah, that’s part of it, but every goalie in the NHL, if you make it easy and give them the puck, they’re going to start the other teams breakouts and it’s hard to forecheck. I think you have to do more with the pressure and the numbers they have in the neutral zone didn’t allow us to place the puck where we’d want it to get a strong forecheck. It’s a combination there with the job they did to clog the neutral zone. It’s not like he was getting out and knocking them down. I thought there were a lot of rolling pucks that came right to him. Especially at the start of the third period that was definitely a factor.  

FREDERIK ANDERSEN

Q. Mark Zwolinski, Toronto Star: Just wondering on the Gallagher goal what you saw. There was maybe a wee bit of question that he might have knocked that original shot down with a high stick. Did you see it at all that way?

Frederik Andersen: I think you’re pretty accurate that it was very close to being high. When it’s a play where he knocks it down and then taps it in, I think it’s not reviewable. It is what it is. Obviously, tough bounce at the end, but that happens sometimes unfortunately. We’ve got to move on and get ready for the next one.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: It’s been a while since the team lost in regulation. What do you think the group can take from tonight as you get set for next week’s games?

Frederik Andersen: Sticking with it I think is important. I think the result tonight is obviously not what we liked, but we did some good things. I think in the first period we did have a lot of chances, some posts and some good chances that didn’t go our way. I think we still played a good game, but sometimes, like I said before, they have these type of bounces and we want to try to set us up in a good position where we don’t lose the game in that kind of way. Of course, we’d want to be ahead. 

MITCH MARNER

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: What made it hard to generate offence against the Canadiens as this game went along tonight?

Mitch Marner: I think we got away from our game plan, composure in our D-zone, staying on too long for offensive chances. Not being able to come back quick enough in our D-zone to help our D break out. Just little mistakes that we talked about that we know we’ve got to get better at. That one sucks to slip away but just got to look forward to Ottawa next.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: [Montreal] came in on a bit of skid. Did you sense more urgency from them tonight or was this more about you guys?

Mitch Marner: I think both teams came off the get-go with urgency. I think as the game went on, we got too cute with it. We got away from what made us successful. We weren’t hard on the forecheck, we weren’t helping each other out on the forecheck and talking to each other. We had shifts where we were getting hemmed in our D-zone, thought we could go on an odd-man rush or an offensive chance and missed our changes and kind of got them on the right side of the puck most times that we were changing on the wrong side of it and give them opportunities.

AUSTON MATTHEWS 

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: From a discipline perspective, you’re happy not taking any penalties but takes away something from your guys’ momentum if you don’t get some power plays.

Auston Matthews: I think in these tight games power play, penalty kills, special teams can really be the difference but like you said, there wasn’t many penalties tonight that were being called. That’s fine, we’ve got to generate our own momentum. I think we did that, especially early on in the first period. I thought we had a really good start and they had their pushback like we expected. It could have really gone either way but letting this one slip away definitely leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: After that good start, what made it tough for the team to generate offence especially in the third period?

Auston Matthews: On our dumps and rims, we just couldn’t keep it away from Price. That’s what really puts him above everybody else in this league. He’s just like a third defenceman back there. He’s breaking pucks down off the glass, rims, chip ins and he’s able to break the puck out. It’s difficult to create offence when we’re not keeping the puck away from him and they’re just breaking out smoothly every time we do get the puck and we chip it in and they do a really good job in the neutral zone. They do force you to throw in and dump pucks in. We just didn’t do a very good job of keeping it away from them and they were able to break out really cleanly. It staggered our offensive movement.

JOHN TAVARES 

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: John, what made it tough to generate offence against the Habs as this game went along tonight?

John Tavares: It was one of those kinds of games. Just seemed like there just wasn’t too much room, just weren’t as in sync. I think maybe it was some of our passes and just being a little bit better connected and executing on two, three plays in a row to be able to open up some open ice and get some looks. I think we can do a better job getting to the net. 

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: When two teams play together in short order we’re expecting adjustments. Did they show you anything different tonight that stood out?

John Tavares: They came in with a sense of urgency with the way the last few games have gone for them. They played hard, just tried to play physical. Obviously, we’re aware of some of the things that we do well. That’s part of it, we’ve seen it throughout the season so far. We have to find a way to break through. 

MONTREAL CANADIENS (9-4-2 – 20 Points) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (11-3-1 – 23 Points)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2021

	1	2	3	OT	FINAL
MONTREAL	0	0	2	–	2
TORONTO	1	0	0	–	1

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Mitch Marner put the Maple Leafs on the board at 3:36 of the first period. Marner has eight points (2-6-8) over his last five games played. He has 13 points (5-8-13) in eight games on home ice this season. He is tied for third in the NHL in even-strength goals (7) and ranks third in the NHL in points (7-15-22).
• Auston Matthews registered the primary assist on Marner’s first period goal. Matthews has assists (2) in two consecutive games and points (9-3-12) in nine consecutive games. In seven games on home ice, he has registered nine points (6-3-9). He has 20 points (12-8-20) in 17 career games against the Canadiens.
• Zach Hyman picked up the secondary assist on Marner’s first period goal. Hyman has points (1-2-3) in two consecutive games. He has recorded five of his six assists on home ice and has six points in eight games at Scotiabank Arena (1-5-6). He has four points (1-3-4) in three games against Montreal this season.
• Frederik Andersen stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced in the loss.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

	1st	2nd	3rd	OT	TOTAL
MONTREAL	6 (6)	7 (7)	12 (12)	–	25 (25)
TORONTO	9 (8)	7 (7)	6 (6)	–	22 (21)

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

	1st	2nd	3rd	OT	TOTAL
MONTREAL	16 (16)	16 (16)	25 (23)	–	57 (55)
TORONTO	16 (15)	12 (12)	12 (12)	–	40 (39)

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Record at Home	6-2-0 (8 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Montreal	302-343-88-17 (750 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Montreal on the Road	191-129-45-10 (375 Games)

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots	5 (Matthews)
Shot Attempts	7 (Matthews)
Faceoff Wins	9 (Tavares)
Faceoff Win Percentage	100% (Engvall, Spezza)
Hits	5 (Muzzin)
Blocked Shots	4 (Muzzin)
Takeaways	1 (Five players tied)
TOI	25:19 (Rielly)
Power Play TOI	1:32 (Marner, Matthews, Petan)
Shorthanded TOI	N/A
Shifts	24 (Holl, Muzzin)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage	52.9% (Kerfoot – 9 for, 8 against)

RECORD WHEN…

Scoring first	4-2-1
Lead after 1	6-1-0
Lead after 2	8-1-0
Do not score a power play goal	2-2-0
Do not allow a power play goal	4-1-0
Outshot by opponent	6-2-1
Saturday	2-1-1

OF NOTE…

• The Maple Leafs went 0-for-1 on the power play tonight.
• Toronto did not take a penalty in tonight’s game. It is the club’s first penalty free game since November 27, 2019 at Detroit (6-0 W).
• Jake Muzzin was on the ice for a team-high 17 shot attempts at 5-on-5 tonight. Muzzin finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 45.6% (17 for, 20 against).
• John Tavares won 100% (4 won, 0 lost) of his defensive zone faceoffs. He was 4-for-4 (100%) in the faceoff circle against Montreal centre Nick Suzuki and 3-for-3 (100%) in the faceoff circle against Montreal centre Phillip Danault in all situations.

UPCOMING GAMES:

• Monday, February 15, 7:00 p.m. vs. Ottawa Senators (TSN4, TSN 1050)
• Wednesday, February 17, 7:00 p.m. vs. Ottawa Senators (Sportsnet, FAN 590)
• Thursday, February 18, 7:00 p.m. vs. Ottawa Senators (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)
• Saturday, February 20, 7:00 p.m. at Montreal Canadiens (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)
• Monday, February 22, 7:00 p.m. vs. Calgary Flames (TSN4, TSN 1050)

Stats reflect official NHL stats at the time of distribution. Please consult official NHL game sheets (links above) to confirm no statistical changes were made.

MONTREAL CANADIENS (8-4-2 – 18 Points) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (11-2-1 – 23 Points)

FEBRUARY 13, 2021 ▪ 7:00 PM EST

SCOTIABANK ARENA (TORONTO, ON) ▪
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN

MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY versus MONTREAL

ALL-TIME RECORD:	301-342-88-17 (748 Games)
ALL-TIME on the ROAD:	110-214-43-7 (374 Games)
2020-21:	1-0-0
LAST FIVE:	1-1-3
LAST 10:	6-1-3

MAPLE LEAFS CAREER LEADERS versus MONTREAL

GAMES PLAYED:	Jason Spezza (68), Joe Thornton (55), John Tavares (37)
GOALS:	Jason Spezza (32), Joe Thornton (15), John Tavares (15)
ASSISTS:	Jason Spezza (38), Joe Thornton (28), John Tavares (20)
POINTS:	Jason Spezza (70), Joe Thornton (43), John Tavares (35)
PENALTY MINUTES:	Zach Bogosian (55), Wayne Simmonds (54), Joe Thornton (39)

MAPLE LEAFS – CANADIENS TEAM STATS

	TORONTO	MONTREAL
GOALS FOR (Rank):	52 (2nd)	50 (t-3rd)
GOALS AGAINST (Rank):	36 (t-15th)	37 (17th)
POWER PLAY [%] (Rank):	15/43 [34.9%] (4th)	10/48 [20.8%] (17th)
PENALTY KILL [%] (Rank):	40/52 [76.9%] (21st)	47/59 [79.7%] (19th)
SHOTS PER GAME (Rank):	29.3 (20th)	34.8 (1st)
SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME (Rank):	27.9 (t-6th)	28.8 (11th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPTS FOR (Rank):	566 (10th)	666 (3rd)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT % (Rank):	50.5% (16th)	54.5% (4th)
FACEOFF % (Rank):	53.3% (5th)	46.7% (t-26th)

MAPLE LEAFS – CANADIENS NOTES

First Matchup between Clubs:	Dec. 26, 1917 (Toronto Arenas 7, Montreal 5)
All-Time Record:	302-342-88-17 (749 Games)
All-Time Record at Home:	191-128-45-10 (374 Games)
All-Time Record on the Road:	111-214-43-7 (374 Games)
Last Win vs. Opponent at Home:	Jan. 13, 2021 (Toronto 5, Montreal 4 OT)

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER
GOALS	11 (Matthews)
ASSISTS	15 (Marner)
POINTS	21 (Marner)
POWER PLAY POINTS	7 (Marner)
SHORTHANDED POINTS	N/A
PIMs	22 (Simmonds)
SHOTS	55 (Matthews)
FACEOFF WIN%	63.4% (Spezza)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %	66.3% (Thornton)
BLOCKED SHOTS	25 (Muzzin)
TAKEAWAYS	12 (Matthews)
HITS	26 (Holl, Hyman)
TOI PER GAME	23:47 (Rielly)
PP TOI PER GAME	3:16 (Matthews)
SH TOI PER GAME	3:46 (Holl)

MAPLE LEAFS PLAYER NOTES

Frederik Andersen	– Leads the NHL in wins (9).- Third among NHL goaltenders in saves made (306).- Has an 9-3-2 record with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage in 14 career games against Montreal.
TJ Brodie	– Averaging 18:45 in even-strength ice time, which ranks second among Toronto skaters.- Fourth among Maple Leafs defencemen in points (0-4-4).
Justin Holl	– Ranks 22nd among NHL defencemen who average at least 15 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time (16:45) with a shot attempt percentage of 52.7%.- Ranks 14th among NHL defencemen who average at least 15 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time (16:45) with a goals for percentage of 61.1%.- Ranks eighth in the NHL in shorthanded ice time per game (3:46).
Zach Hyman	–  Leads Maple Leafs forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (2:48).- Has the highest on-ice goals for percentage (76.1%) at 5-on-5 among Toronto forwards who have appeared in at least 10 games.- Became the Toronto franchise leader in empty net goals on February 10 at Montreal.
Alex Kerfoot	– One of four Maple Leafs to average over 1:00 in ice timer per game on the power play (1:14) and 1:00 per game on the penalty kill (1:46).- Ranks seventh among Toronto forwards in shifts per game (20.0).
Mitch Marner	– Ranks third among NHLers in points (6-15-21).- Tied for sixth in the NHL in even-strength goals (6).- Leads NHL forwards in time on ice per game (23:02).- Has played 41.4% of Toronto’s shorthanded ice time.
Auston Matthews	– Leads the NHL in goals (11).- Averaging 21:59 in time on ice per game, which ranks fourth among NHL forwards.- Ranks third among Maple Leafs in 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage (53.5%).- Ranks fourth in the NHL in shots on goal (55).-Registered his 300th career NHL point on February 8 vs. Vancouver to become the second-fastest Maple Leaf to reach the mark, tying Charlie Conacher (294 games).
Ilya Mikheyev	– Ranks third among Maple Leafs forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (2:17).- Has an average of 15.0 shot attempts per 60 minutes of shorthanded ice time, which ranks second among NHLers who have played at least 30 minutes of shorthanded ice time.
Jake Muzzin	– Tied for 10th among NHL skaters in shorthanded ice time per game (3:41).- Ranks 34th among NHL defencemen who average at least 15 minutes per game in 5-on-5 ice time (16:52) in shot attempts per 60 minutes (11.68).- Has started 45.1 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which is the lowest mark among Toronto defencemen.
William Nylander	– Has the fifth highest points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (2.30) among Toronto skaters who have appeared in over five games.- Has a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 55.1%, which is the second-highest percentage among Maple Leafs forwards who have appeared in at least five games.- Has 14 points (8-6-14) in 15 career games against Montreal.
Morgan Rielly	– Leads Maple Leafs in average time on ice (23:47).- Tied for seventh among NHL defencemen in points (2-9-11).- Has 15 points (3-12-15) in 28 career games against the Canadiens.
Jason Spezza	– Has the third-highest points per 60 minutes rate (3.14) among Maple Leafs who have appeared in over five games.- Recorded his eighth career hat trick on February 4 vs. Vancouver.
John Tavares	– Tied for fourth in the NHL in power play goals (4).- Has been on the ice for a team-high nine power play goals, which is tied for the Maple Leafs’ lead and is tied for the 30th-most in the NHL.- Has the fourth-highest faceoff win percentage (58.9%) among NHLers who have taken at least 200 faceoffs (202).- One of 44 NHLers to appear in at least 10 games and average at least a point per game (14GP; 5-9-14).

CURRENT POINT STREAKS

Alex Kerfoot	Points (1-1-2) in two consecutive games.
Auston Matthews	Points (9-2-11) in eight consecutive games.
Ilya Mikheyev	Points (1-1-2) in two consecutive games.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

Zach Bogosian	Three points from 200 NHL points
Justin Holl	Five games from 100 career NHL games
Auston Matthews	Five games from 300 career NHL games
Jake Muzzin	Two assists from 200 NHL assists Three games from 100 games as a Maple Leaf

RECENT MILESTONES

Auston Matthews	300th NHL point (Feb. 8 vs. VAN)

INJURY REPORT

Jack Campbell (Leg)	Week-to-week.
Nick Robertson (Knee)	On long term injured reserve.
Wayne Simmonds (Wrist)	Expected to miss six weeks.
Joe Thornton (Rib)	On long term injured reserve.
	Man Games Lost: 32

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

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