Sheldon Keefe: “I'm concerned”

There really isn't much shame in dropping a game against a team that had entered the contest having won ten straight. Unfortunately for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they became the 11th straight victim of the scorching hot New Jersey Devils last night at Scotiabank Arena. Yegor Sharangovich tallied 57 seconds into overtime, giving the Devils the extra point. 

But it was the Leafs who allowed the Devils to seize control thanks to mistakes that they made, a trend that's certainly causing concern for head coach Sheldon Keefe.  In fact, he thinks rather than losing, it's merely a case of his team beating themselves.

"I am concerned about it," Keefe said. "I think we have shown here lately that we can win games and beat really good teams. This is the best team in the NHL right now. Despite the fact that we didn’t play a great hockey game, we still got a point. We were right there. That shows what we are capable of.  But we have to start beating ourselves."

“The issues with all three goals, including the overtime goal, are big mistakes by us,” Keefe continued.

“I thought we were doing a pretty good job in overtime. We lost the faceoff, which just doesn’t help and you don’t get the puck. But I thought we defended well. They didn’t even get a shot. We get the puck back and give it right back. That can’t happen.”

However, the good news shared by Keefe is that he likes how his team responds to adversity. 

“As a group, you never you never feel like you’ve hit exactly where you can be,” Keefe said. “We’ve made some strides there. We haven’t put it together for 60 minutes quite yet, but each time we’ve been challenged, especially since we’ve come back from that road trip, I’ve liked the response of our group.”

The Leafs will have a chance to get back into the win column when they host the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow night.