Sheldon Keefe on the Leafs bouncing back from a tough first period to defeat the Stars: "We had to play a lot harder… We certainly did that, and the game flipped" – Maple Leafs Hot Stove
Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after the Maple Leafs’ 5-4 win over the Dallas Stars which improved the team’s record to 26-15-8.
On the team overcoming a slow start:
I didn’t mind the first eight or nine minutes of the first period. I think we gave up one shot by the first TV timeout. I thought the game shifted from there.
They played really hard. We didn’t play through that well and couldn’t really establish anything. With the type of team that they have, once they get going like that, they are controlling the play. We needed to up our intensity, urgency, and the way we managed the puck.
With all of these things we talked about before the game, this was the type of game it was going to be. We had to feel our way through that a little bit.
It was only 2-1 after the first, so we just thought we had an opportunity to then embrace the type of game it was going to be the rest of the way. We knew it would be difficult, so we had to play a lot harder. We certainly did that, and the game flipped.
On the momentum-shifting penalty kill in the second period when Auston Matthews and William Nylander nearly scored:
I thought we were going pretty well before that as well, but it certainly was (a momentum builder). It would’ve been nice to score on one of them. That would’ve helped.
But the way the crowd responded and the guys got into it, we got some real life and some real pace. There was definitely energy in the building coming out of that.
Most importantly, we got the kill at that time, but certainly, there was some momentum generated there.
On the play of the bottom six:
Those guys contributed a lot tonight. It is a deep team on the other side. There are no easy matchups and no easy shifts against those guys. I thought the guys responded well when I put them in what I thought were some challenging spots. They managed it very well.
Reavo again was excellent. Holmberg was really, really good. It allowed us to trust them in some tough spots and give a little bit of a breather to the rest of the guys. It was tremendous to see.
On how John Tavares can translate his power-play production into his five-on-five game:
Just stay with it. I thought John was excellent at five-on-five. The play he made to create the Nylander goal in the third period is big-time stuff.
Let’s not get too picky here. The goals are the goals. However they go in and whoever scores them, we just need enough goals to win hockey games. We got that tonight.
Certainly, through the second and third periods, I thought we defended really well. In the third period, we did a really good job. Obviously, we got caught sleeping and a guy got in behind us on the faceoff play. That can’t happen, but aside from that, it was a pretty tidy third period.
Once again, we had four or five grade-A scoring chances. Some of our best chances came in that first six or seven minutes in the third period when we could’ve extended our lead, which is something we have talked about in these games where we have given up leads. We haven’t been able to extend.
You kind of feel like you were letting them hang around again — and that is what happened — but what a response. Auston takes charge, and Mitch scores a big-time goal. John and that line followed it up. Obviously, it was huge.
On the team responding so well to the Stars’ 3-3 goal in the third period:
It was just about reminding the guys that we made a mistake and a guy got behind us for a penalty-shot goal, but we were playing a great period to that point. Just continue with it and stay with it.
We talked about patience and process being really important in this game. We were playing against a really good team that was going to require us to play 60 minutes.
They played last night, but despite the win, they gave up almost 50 shots. It was out of character for them as a team, and you would expect that they would respond with an effort more reflective of their team. That is what we got.
It required a lot of our team to stay with it and pull away.
On the Mason Marchment hit on Jake McCabe:
I see a vulnerable player who is targeted. I would have to think that is the type of hit you do not want to see in the game. He was bleeding everywhere. I am sure they are going to look at it.
On the explanation from the ref on the lack of a call on Marchment:
They thought it was a good hit.
On how McCabe handled the incident:
Jake is an absolute competitor. For him in that moment to not lose his cool, and not lose his cool for the remainder of the game… There were some confrontations between him and Marchment in the third period. Jake was hard on him and the team was hard on Marchment the rest of the way. I think Jake asked him for a fight. The fight didn’t happen, obviously.
Jake kept his cool and didn’t hurt the team. As we are learning or have learned, Jake is an absolute competitor and warrior. I loved how he handled that.
On whether he was aware that he has now passed Guy Boucher in total wins as an NHL head coach:
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
BRUSSELS – Canadian shot putter Sarah Mitton rebounded from a disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics by capturing Diamond League gold on Friday.
Mitton, of Brooklyn, N.S., won the competition, the final Diamond League event of the season, with a heave of 20.25 metres on her third throw.
Chase Jackson of the U.S. placed second with a throw of 19.90, while German’s Yemisi Ogunleye, the Olympic gold medallist, claimed bronze with a toss of 19.72.
Mitton, the runner-up of last year’s world championship, failed to qualify for the top eight in Paris.
Edmonton runner Marco Arop, who won silver for Canada in the men’s 800 metres at the Paris Games, was scheduled to race in the 800 on Saturday.
Olympic bronze-medallist Alysha Newman, of London, Ont., also competes Saturday in the women’s pole vault.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
