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Maple Leafs’ Coach Keefe Makes 8 Key Points After John Tavares’ Injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost Game 1 to the Montreal Canadiens. How did the John Tavares injury impact the game’s outcome?

Here’s the Game 1 headline in two sentences: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup series. Maple Leafs’ captain John Tavares was injured.

In this post, I’m going to focus on the Maple Leafs’ head coach Sheldon Keefe’s answers to questions from the media after the game. A number of those questions had to do with Tavares, and a number were more general about the play of the game.

Related: John Tavares Involved in Scary Collision During Leafs vs. Canadiens Game

The Game Was Shaped by the Tavares Injury

All that said, from my perspective, the game was shaped by Tavares’ injury. The injury came when Tavares crashed into the Canadiens’ Ben Chiarot halfway through the first period of the game, spun around, and was hit in the head by Corey Perry’s knee as he fell. We have no indication about Tavares’ status currently, but when Tavares was being carried off the ice on a stretcher on his way to the hospital he gave a thumbs-up.

In the video below, you can hear and see Keefe’s interview with the media. Keefe spoke about the injury to Tavares, how the team is handling that situation, and his thoughts on the game overall. You can listen to the entire video; it’s short. However, I’ll note the key points Keefe made during his answers.

Keefe on Tavares’ Injury and Maple Leafs Loss to Canadiens

In his interview, I counted that Keefe made eight key points about the impact of the injury on the game and his team.

Key Point #1: Tavares is Conscious and Communicating Well

As Keefe noted, his captain was “conscious and communicating well. The tests that he’s had so far have come back clear. He’s going to remain overnight in hospital to undergo further tests. That’s what I have right now.” [Note: that was after the game.]

Key Point #2: Losing Tavares Is a Huge Loss, but Good Teams Overcome Such Things

Keefe noted that “Losing John is obviously a big loss for us, but we’ve got we’ve got lots of depth and obviously will make a lineup change to adjust to it. All our guys are just going to have to play better. It’s a big loss – our captain – but good teams overcome these types of things. And, that’s going to be on us.”

Key Point #3: There Was a Bit of Panic on the Team

One unique aspect of the game was the odd fact that three delay of game penalties that were called on the Maple Leafs. When Keefe was asked about if there was a sense of panic on the team, he admitted that: “the Holl one (penalty) was pretty accidental … just trying to knock down the puck.”

However, Keefe noted that on “the other two there’s a little bit of a sense of panic.” He further noted that “I’d like to think those are things aren’t going to occur again like they unfortunately happened here tonight.”

Morgan Rielly and John Tavares Toronto Maple Leafs

Key Point #4: The Special Teams Really Broke Up the Game

Keefe noted that “the special teams really broke up the game a lot.” He added that it was “not obviously what you expected in a playoff game, but you have got to adjust.”

Key Point #5: The Maple Leafs Special Teams Played Well

Keefe thought that the team’s “penalty kill did a really good job.” He also thought “our power play early in the game was really good and looked really dangerous, but we needed one to go in for us obviously. It makes a big difference in the game.”

Key Point #6: Keefe Has Never Experienced Anything This “Uncomfortable”

In answering a questions from Sportsnet’s Chris Johnson, Keefe admitted that: “To be honest, it (the injury) was difficult. First, I’ve experienced a lot of different things and a lot of tough injuries and stuff like that and in my time as a player and a coach, but in an empty building like that it was probably the most uncomfortable situation I’ve been a part of on the ice. So, it was really tough to get through.”

John Tavares with his family

Key Point #7: The Maple Leafs’ Players Were Rattled and Concerned

Keefe noted that “our players were rattled and concerned. I was obviously very concerned as well. … It was a very tough moment. We had ample time to settle and regroup, but it took us took us quite a bit of time to really kind of find ourselves after that. … It’s a difficult situation for everyone, and I’m sure that would include Montreal.”

Key Point #8: Keefe Noted After the Injury that the Job Was to Refocus

Keefe noted that, during the intermission after the injury, that he first “gave the guys the update on how John was doing and let them know that he’s in good hands.”

Keefe then noted to his players that “We’ve got to press on as a team. That’s just that’s our job and that’s what we need to do.”

He finally said that, as a team, “We’ve got to get refocused and everybody else has to step up for our team and for John.”

Related: Maple Leafs’ Keefe Hints: Physicality’s Part of the Deal, Bring It On!

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