Keefe touches on the team's effort in Pittsburgh; identifies one player as having really stood out
Heading into last night, the Leafs were 2-3-2 on the road, largely due to a horrible Western road swing that saw them go 1-2-2 to close out the month of October. Last Friday, the Leafs fell to Pittsburgh in Toronto 4-2 and were looking to return the favour last night in Pittsburgh. It was Matt Murray's first game back in Pittsburgh since being traded in 2020 and his first game back for the Leafs following an adductor injury that cost him a month on LTIR.
The Leafs played what was possibly their most complete game of the season last night - minus a pair of costly errors in the second, which led to two Pens goals in quick succession - something Sheldon Keefe pointed out during his post-game press conference. He credited Matt Murray for helping to steer the ship and weather the storm.
"I don't know. We have played some good games before. It is a good road game for us here. A really good first period, I thought. The guys executed very well, in the first period, all of the areas that we addressed and wanted to be better at in terms of how we defend versus what we did last time we saw these guys. We scored two big goals and got off to a great start to the period.
It could've been 4-0 for us, and then they turned around, and one went in off a leg. At 3-1, it changes the game. Murray made some saves. We survived that a little bit there. We just kept playing from there. Pretty solid effort for our guys all around."
-Keefe on the team's effort in Pittsburgh
It could've been 4-0 for us, and then they turned around, and one went in off a leg. At 3-1, it changes the game. Murray made some saves. We survived that a little bit there. We just kept playing from there. Pretty solid effort for our guys all around."
-Keefe on the team's effort in Pittsburgh
The Leafs got multi-point games from Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Michael Bunting, who finally found his rhythm, scoring twice in a 3-point effort. It had been 6 games since Bunting registered a point and he had played his last 11 games registering one lone assist. Bunting's impressive outing was not lost on Keefe, who praised the 27-year-old after the game.
"I thought it was Bunts' best game of the season today in terms of how he held onto pucks, battled, and competed. The goals, of course, are really great, but those are ones that will generally come when he plays like he did tonight. He was really good.
"I thought all four lines gave us really good moments here today. It was good to see Bunts come through, but Mitch and John got two big goals for us in the first period that got us going in the game. I thought we got really good efforts throughout the lineup."
-Keefe on Bunting's outstanding game and the total effort from the top of the lineup to the bottom of the lineup
"I thought all four lines gave us really good moments here today. It was good to see Bunts come through, but Mitch and John got two big goals for us in the first period that got us going in the game. I thought we got really good efforts throughout the lineup."
-Keefe on Bunting's outstanding game and the total effort from the top of the lineup to the bottom of the lineup
It was a complete team effort in securing the 5-2 win for Murray, who made his first appearance since opening night in Montreal. The Leafs are back in action Thursday to take on the red-hot New Jersey Devils, who have won 10 in a row.
Previously on MapleLeafsDaily
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 16 | 199 ANSWERS Keefe touches on the team's effort in Pittsburgh; identifies one player as having really stood out Who do you think the first star of the game was for the Leafs in their 5-2 win over the Pens? | ||
| Bunting | 70 | 35.2 % |
| Benn | 47 | 23.6 % |
| Murray | 61 | 30.7 % |
| Tavares | 21 | 10.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
MUST READ
TRENDING NOW
