Sheldon Keefe refuses to acknowledge the elephant in the room ahead of must-win Game 4
Ahead of a must-win game four for the Toronto Maple Leafs, head coach Sheldon Keefe met with the media to discuss his team's play through three games and his plan for the crucial game tonight. Instead of harping on his star player's lack of production and addressing the elephant in the room, Keefe decided to praise his players in what has become the biggest game of the season:
"The production and performance of these guys that we're talking about and questioning, they're the reason why we're here, why we're even playing when there's only eight teams left" Keefe stated.
In the first three games of the series the core four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares have a combined 0 goals, 4 points, 2 even strength points, and a -10 rating. In comparison, against the Tampa Bay Lightning in round one this core had a combination of 13 goals, 34 points, 22 even-strenght points, and a +11 rating. The effort and lack of production has simply been unacceptable as Keefe yet again is failing to hold his players accountable while leading them with a carrot instead of a whip.
Although it seems Keefe recognizes the issues and understands the slump his star players are in, he is looking to go back to what he believes has worked the best in this scenario. In his opinion, he wants to put Matthews-Marner-Jarnkrok together to get those guys going as well as the other three lines because from a "big sample" that has been the recipe to success for his team.
"That's been the best line we've had all season" Keefe said.
As there are plenty variations of lineup changes Keefe can make on the front end, this seems to be the combination he believes the most in. From the stats, Bunting-Matthews-Nylander has had a ton of success over the course of the season as well and could be a backup option if things begin to go south fast tonight. Let's all hope Keefe's decision works out in the Leafs favour and is the beginning of a major turn around for this team.
| POLL | ||
MAI 10 | 493 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe refuses to acknowledge the elephant in the room ahead of must-win Game 4 Will the Core four get on the scoresheet in tonight's must win game four? | ||
| Yes, they have to | 410 | 83.2 % |
| No, unfortunately I don't think so | 83 | 16.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
