“At some point, guys have to get over the line… We’re near the top of the league in expected goals and scoring opportunities”

Before Game 6, Sheldon Keefe talked about Auston Matthews’ absence in a do-or-die game, the keys to improving results at home, and the 1-for-17 power play over the first five games of the series.

---

Is there any update on Auston Matthews and Bobby McMann?

Keefe: Austin is not available tonight. Bobby is also unavailable, but as you can see, he is processing it well.

What, in your opinion, is the key to success tonight?

Keefe: Our approach to the game cannot change. It’s very clear how and when we’ve been successful in this series, and how and when we haven’t. I thought we had a pretty clear picture of that coming back from the road after Game 2. We came back and didn’t execute it at home when we got back here. That’s the most important piece for us: going out with the same mentality that we take on the road.

When asked about the lineup changes, you said you didn’t want to think about it too much several times. Has that developed in your coaching style over the years, or was this playoff with Auston Matthews a real challenge that makes you shake things up?

Keefe: It’s about reading about your team, the situation and the players themselves. Between Willy’s absence from the beginning and Auston’s absence, those are pretty important pieces that make you have to move things around. It’s more of a reading of things.

We were feeling pretty strong and confident in the group and the plan ahead and suddenly you lost Bobby McMann, Willy and Auston. You have to change and adapt as you go.

You are constantly reading about your players, the team and the game itself. You make your decisions from there. As we saw throughout the season, when we lost guys to injuries or other reasons, or changed lines, the group responded very well. We have a lot of versatile guys who can play different spots, different positions and go from right wing to left wing. That has helped us a lot to be able to adapt to different situations.

William Nylander is back for a few games. What is your perception of his game and how close is he to Willy’s top level?

Keefe: I thought I had taken some steps in that direction the other night. In his first game, he looked like a guy who was adjusting to the opponent, the playoffs and getting back on track. The other night I thought he was much better in terms of moving his feet and creating chances. That’s an encouraging sign.

He’s looking for one to break up and be on his way. She had a breakaway that crashed into the crossbar. That’s one you’d love to see fall in love with. More importantly, it’s just his overall game. We are going to need a great global effort on his part.

What is your feeling about why you have had so much difficulty winning at home?

Keefe: As I’ve been alluding to, when we arrive, our plan doesn’t change and our focus doesn’t change, but our mindset seems to change. In particular, it’s about sticking to it and being consistent with it. When I look at the games we’ve played here, in the third game, we gave up three shots in the first 15 minutes. In that sense, it is a fairly similar game in terms of defense. We didn’t have much offensive push in that game, but we were doing a good job defensively.

It’s about maintaining that game and staying in it. When you have a plan, you have to follow it over a long period of time, which is what we did very well the other night. We were not fazed by what happened in the game. We had a great period. It was still 1-1. It didn’t make us change. We just stuck with it and stuck with it. We had to kill a penalty and we did it.

We haven’t done it at the same level at home. That hasn’t just been a playoff trend but a regular season trend for us. It’s the same mentality. This is the best road team in Leafs history. We haven’t been able to replicate it on home ice, but we’ve earned another chance to do it right now.

Is this something that even needs to be addressed at this point? The players know the same numbers as us.

Keefe: We’ve addressed it and talked about it throughout the season, but now that you’re playing the same opponent, the game plan and approach is similar. It’s much easier to drive home now. You’ve gone through what has worked and what hasn’t. It’s a mindset piece.

For me, it’s not so much about where we play or what the situation is. It’s based on mindset and being able to stay in it no matter what the game brings. Just trust it and stay with it, and expect it to be difficult. Accept that it is difficult and don’t feel the need to adapt our plan. We have been successful in this series in both winning games and staying in the game even when we haven’t won games. When we’ve played according to plan, we’ve made things really difficult in Boston.

In the two games without Auston Matthews this season, they were two of the team’s best performances. How much are you expressing it so they get into the mindset of stepping up without it, or is it human nature for guys to want to do more?

Keefe: It’s a bit of a human nature piece. You recognize that everyone has to be better. They are two different types of games: one is a regular season against Pittsburgh, and the team played very well but also filled the net. That night everything seemed to go wrong. It’s the opposite kind of approach from the other night. It is a game of discipline. It is a game of coherence. It’s about moving forward, trying hard, and finding a way to win a hockey game.

It’s more about the confidence our team has that we can respond when players are out. In this series alone, we didn’t have Willy in Game 1 or Game 2, but you’ve yet to find a way to win a road game. If we don’t get that victory, we won’t even be here talking.

That piece is important. We have confidence there. We can trust the group. If anything, it shows the strength of the group and the importance of the group not looking at others but simply doing their part, trusting that the group will find a way to prevail in the end.

What did you see on the power play in Game 5 without Auston Matthews? They seemed close to breaking through.

Keefe: Got us some of the looks you want. John had at least two very clear and open looks. Morgan had the unique opportunity, which is the biggest opportunity you can have on a power play. We have to wait and trust that these will begin to fall before us.

We spent a lot of time analyzing the power play and things we’d like to do better. We are looking for possible adjustments and so on. You do it because you’re always trying to perfect it and stay ahead of any adjustments that the penalty might be making.

You’re also examining your chances of scoring during that process. How can you generate more of them? We deserve more power play goals than we’ve had in this series. We looked very, very good. The goalkeeper has stopped, or we just haven’t converted very well on rebounds, empty nets and that kind of thing.

The number starts to increase and it doesn’t look good. It has been an important factor in this series. We have no choice but to continue like this and do more of the things we do well to find even more looks like that.

At some point, guys have to get over the line. She has been there for us. Right now, on the power play, we are near the top of the league in terms of expected goals or scoring opportunities. We deserve to have more than what we have received.

In the first three or four games of the series, we led the league in inside shots on the power play. We are doing the things we have to do to score. He hasn’t crossed the line. We have to stay with that.

We’ve had three different iterations of the first unit in five games in this series. We have tried different things. We have made changes ourselves or the alignment has required us to make some changes. It’s given us some different looks that way. The boys have to keep going like this, trust themselves and get over the line for us.