Keefe knows it wasn't perfect, but still applauded his team for finding a way to win in Washington
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows in Leaf Land during tonight's game against the Washington Capitals. The Leafs fell to a 3-1 deficit early in the 3rd period and despite not having Michael Bunting due to injury and Tavares out of the lineup for load management. The Leafs didn't play a full 60 but they were able to show up when it mattered. Luckily for them, they were able to get their hands dirty and be on the good side of a 3-1 comeback due to late goals from Ilya Mikheyev and Jason Spezza followed by the shootout winner by Alex Kerfoot.
"Real gutsy effort, gritty effort for the guys to find a way. We didn't have much, seemed like we were playing on fumes most of the night ... huge goal by Mickey gets us going and 6-on-5 comes through."
Keefe, who has been critical of the Leafs effort this season and has proved to be a blunt coach. When things got tough and they went down the Leafs dug their heels in and found a way to win.
In a game where Matthews and Marner weren't contributing offensively, we saw the depth do what the stars have done all season and put the team on their backs and carried them to victory.
In years past, this is a game that the Leafs definitely lose. Not this year, not tonight. They battled and they found a way to win against a team that they could see in the playoffs depending on how far each team goes.
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