Sheldon Keefe and Matthew Knies comment on his impressive performance in his first career playoff game
In the final three games of the regular season, Matthew Knies did not look out of place in the Leafs' lineup, especially his second and third game. He used his size to protect the puck in board battles, his hands and hockey IQ to create offence and was fairly responsible defensively as well. Unfortunately, he was held out of the lineup for Game 1, which was not a bad thing as sometimes the pressure of Game 1 can get to players, especially rookies, and they try to do too much and end up making too many mistakes. Well, with Michael Bunting getting suspended for 3 games for his hit on Erik Cernak, the Leafs and Sheldon Keefe had no choice but to insert Knies into the lineup for Game 2, and thankfully, he did not disappoint.
Knies skated on a line with Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari, who were able to shelter him defensively, but also created a ton of offensive zone pressure and chances. In his playoff debut, with his parents in the building, Knies had an 84.95 xGF%, two shots on goal, and tied for the team lead with five hits. When asked about how he felt about his debut, Knies kept his answer short and sweet saying, "It was unreal."
Knies credited his linemates for his solid playoff debut, pointing to their leadership and guidance as important factors on his big night. "Having two veteran guys with me was a ton of help. O'Reilly stepped up and put me under his wing there and made the game a lot easier for me," Knies said following his team's big win. "My first shift I was a little nervous, gripping my stick too tight." Thankfully, he was able to loosen up and show what he was capable of.
Knies' play in his first playoff game even caught the attention of Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman who said during the second intermission, "Knies is the real deal, and you can see why the Leafs weren't moving him."
Sheldon Keefe also had some praise to heap on Knies and, more specifically, his line saying, "I thought the line was terrific. We will watch it all back and everything, but it felt to me like they were in the offensive zone � or at least out of trouble � a lot. Matt, in particular, took a penalty in the first period, but I thought he skated well. He was hard on the puck. He made a couple of great offensive plays. It was a real good performance from him. O'Reilly and Acciari were real pros tonight just with how they took care of him and took care of the game when they were out there."
In the third period, with the Leafs dominating the Lightning in their zone, Keefe even trusted Knies enough to put him on a line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner for a shift, where they continued the pressure and eventually it led to a Leaf scoring chance. With Bunting out for another 2 games at least, Knies will have plenty of runway, without having to worry about a mistake costing him a lineup spot to just play his game. He was able to show that, sink or swim, he was a swimmer last night.
Previously on MapleLeafsDaily
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