Keefe Defends Ritchie, Points To Matthews & Marner.

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October 23, 2021 (2:18 PM)

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"The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered a bit of a brutal loss on Friday night as they were taken down 5-3 by the San Jose Sharks. While the Leafs were able to keep the game tight for a bit, they eventually let it fall through their fingers and Sharks ran away with it. During the game we saw a lack of production by some of the team's top players. Mitch Marner was receiving tons of criticism on social media for lack of effort however it was Nick Ritchie who was eventually benched for a bit by head coach Sheldon Keefe. Following the game Keefe was asked about the benching and if Ritchie was lazy, however Keefe said don't focus on Ritchie because there's not much help from the rest of the line either. "It was more to me about the fact that that line wasn't going today," Keefe said. "You should be asking as many questions about Matthews and Marner today as you should be (Ritchie)."
"I can tell the line of questioning I've been getting the last number of days, people want to pile on Nick Ritchie here, but let's not narrow the focus too much,"What do you think of Keefe's comments?
For those who missed the postgame exchange between Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe and Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun regarding Nick Ritchie, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, here it is. (Courtesy @DaveyUpper)
pic.twitter.com/ac1SqvihUj
— Sid Seixeiro (@Sid_Seixeiro) October 23, 2021

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