Lightning coach Jon Cooper attempts to discredit Leafs, makes shocking post game remarks after loss in Game 1

Cooper was dismissive about the Leafs' dominant win when asked post game what, if anything, surprised him about the play of the Leafs in Game 1, stating that he didn't think that the Lightning pushed back very hard against the Leafs, insinuating that it was his own team's poor play, rather than the Leafs playing well that decided the game. The 2-time Stanley Cup winning head coach even went so far as to call the Leafs' win a "freebie".

If I'm Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, I'm having this quote transcribed and I'm reading this to the team in the locker room before Game 2 on Wednesday. The Leafs played a near perfect game against the Bolts and had to excel in all areas of the game to get the win.

From a special teams perspective, the Leafs had some massive penalty kills early that built up some confidence on the bench. From a power play perspective, neither team had a distinct advantage, with the Leafs having 6 opportunities with the man advantage to the Lightning's 5. The Buds went 1-for-6, while the Bolts went 0-5. The Leafs won the battle in the faceoff dot, they won plenty of battles for contested pucks, they generated more scoring chances, converted on more scoring chances and, despite being out-hit 56 to 36, I thought the Leafs did a good job of standing up for themselves all night.

The Leafs went about their business in the right way on Monday, putting forth a concerted 2-way effort all night and EARNING a hard-fought victory. Nobody gave the Leafs anything last night. They had to work for it, and Cooper trying to take that away from the Leafs and make it more about the Lightning should be all the fuel that the Leafs need to work just as hard to secure the win in Game 2.