Sheldon Keefe's post-game comments about the Leafs make him sound like a proud father
Sunday after practice Keefe was asked what he expected from Tampa. His answer took some by surprise, when he stated that the series was going to be "borderline violent". Well, the Leafs prepared for violence and they got it.
The Leafs were engaged physically right from the start of the game and although they were out-hit 56 to 36, the team as a whole didn't back down from any challenges from Tampa. In particular, the line brawl that broke out in the third period after Simmonds threw a clean hit on Jan Rutta and Perry and Maroon decided to go after Rielly and others.
After Kyle Clifford's ejection for boarding early in the first, that scrum saw the likes of Simmonds, Lyubushkin and Rielly ejected from the game as well for «violence related reasons».
Keefe was asked post game about the physicality where he said "Our team seemed to be unflappable tonight, we had an early kill, no problem. we had the big kill, no problem." At least for Game 1, it looked like the Leafs were willing to engage and be the ones that initiated the physical play. Something that they seemed to be reluctant to do last year against Montreal. Here's a link to Keefe's full comments.
Hopefully the Leafs continue to play the aggressive style that they brought tonight, in all facets of the game because it was a near perfect game. Everyone knows Tampa is going to come out flying Wednesday, which means the Leafs have to be prepared to be engaged physically right from puck drop again.
| POLL | ||
3 MAI | 53 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe's post-game comments about the Leafs make him sound like a proud father Will the Leafs be able to keep up that same level of intensity in Game 2 and beyond? | ||
| Yes | 44 | 83 % |
| No | 9 | 17 % |
| List of polls | ||
