Leafs vow to be better after lack of response to Liljegren injury

The Maple Leafs skated at Scotiabank Arena Saturday ahead of tonight's game against the Buffalo Sabres

After watching defenceman Timothy Liljegren crash into the boards and sustain an injury courtesy a trip by Brad Marchand on Thursday night, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe had some words for the Bruins winger. The rest of the Leafs, however, didn't say or do much. 

"I hated everything about it," Keefe said of the tepid response. "It's not what we want to be about. At times, we've responded very well in those situations. It's about consistency though, so we've addressed it."

"We addressed it in the room," said winger Ryan Reaves. "It will be changed going forward."

Marchand skated by the Leafs bench following the incident, which Reaves didn't care for. What did the veteran enforcer tell the Bruins captain? 

"First of all, 'Get away from the bench,'" Reaves revealed. "Second of all, it's just lucky I wasn't on the ice with him. Unfortunately they had last change so I didn't get any shifts against him."

New general manager Brad Treliving made a series of signings in the summer to inject some more snot, as he called it, into the lineup. Reaves, Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi were all brought in to add some edginess. But one player can only do so much. 

"Brad Marchand doesn't care about Ryan Reaves or anybody else in the league," Keefe said. "That's well established. It's more about the team response. There's a lot of players wearing Bruins colours, we can make life harder on them. It's more about an uplifting of our team."

The trip by Marchand went unpenalized even though Keefe felt it was a clear "can opener." Liljegren sustained a high-ankle sprain and was placed on long term injured reserve on Saturday, which means he'll miss at least 10 games. The play occurred late in the first period. 

"As we got to see the replay and I talked to Lily between periods we understood what happened," said defenceman John Klingberg. "It's obviously a dirty play."

Keefe brought it up with the team during the intermission. 

"In real time it didn't look like anything," Reaves said. "The replay, I think you can form your own opinion on what happened based on the player. It didn't look overly malicious, but it looked like there was some intent there."

The Leafs rallied to tie the game with goals from Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in the second period, but other than Klingberg shoving Marchand to the ice, there wasn't much physicality. 

"We came back in the hockey game," Keefe said. "So, that's a response in itself. That's Matthews and Marner. That's how they respond. They changed the game for us and I loved that we have that ability. We've shown that over and over again. We showed that in the playoffs last year on the road in Tampa, you know, we got slapped around a little bit. We come back in the game. We win the game. We win series. So we've shown these things over time that we can respond in different ways, but that's part of the game we have to fully embrace." 

The Leafs had a day off on Friday, but spent "a good portion" of Saturday morning discussing what happened or didn't happen in Boston, Keefe confirmed. 

"We talk about [how] it's very important we stick together," captain John Tavares told reporters. "It's a brotherhood and what happens to one happens to all."

"We've done it at times," Keefe stressed. "The last number of seasons we've done it at times and we've shown these things to our guys. We've talked about it, but it's about consistency and there's a lot of areas in our game where we're lacking consistency ... We want to be the team that wants to accomplish great things, you've got to find consistency."

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Bertuzzi appeared to be smiling on the bench as Reaves and Marchand went back and forth following the Liljegren injury. 

"People can perceive that however they want," Bertuzzi said. "I'm not going to explain myself."

Bertuzzi, who finished last season with the Bruins following a deadline deal, was bumped from the second line to the fourth line and finished with a season low in ice time (11:32)

"I just wasn't good enough," the winger said. "Just got to be better."

During his post-game media session, Keefe said that Bertuzzi wasn't following the Leafs game plan and needed to simplify his game. Where can Bertuzzi simplify things? 

"Everywhere," the 28-year-old from Sudbury, Ont. said. "Make simple plays, be hard on the puck."

Keefe highlighted positives on Saturday morning. 

"Bert's been doing a lot of good things," he said. "The other night, a lot of different circumstances going on in the game. I'm not very happy with our team at that point in time and he just happened to make the wrong mistake at the wrong time and he was the guy for that night. But to me, especially on the road trip, Bert was really starting to come on."

Bertuzzi, who signed a one-year deal in the summer, only has one even-strength point in 10 games. Among Leafs forwards, he carries the fifth highest cap hit ($5.5-million) this season. Bertuzzi started the year on the top line with Matthews and Marner, but it didn't click.  

What's the biggest challenge fitting in with a new team? 

"Just, personally, I've just got to be better," Bertuzzi reiterated during a brief media session. "No excuses." 

Keefe felt Bertuzzi responded well during his two shifts in the third period on Thursday.  

"He had a couple of really good shifts and showed what we need from him in terms of moving his feet and being engaged," the coach said. "Bert's a very important player for us and will be a very important player for us and will come through. The harder this thing gets, the better Bert's going to be."

Bertuzzi was back on the second line with Tavares and William Nylander at Saturday's skate. 

"It's another opportunity to prove myself and just be better," he said. 

The message from the captain?

"Just continuing to emphasize his strengths and how he can impact the game," Tavares told reporters. "He's played in the league a while now and has had success so not to forget that."

Bertuzzi was dealing with an undisclosed injury earlier in the season, but says he's now playing at 100 per cent. 

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Jake McCabe skated in the morning, but remains sidelined with a groin injury. How can the Leafs find success without both second-pair defencemen? 

"Play better," Keefe said. "Play better as a team. Play harder as a team. Play tighter as a team. We went through this exact thing last season and it actually ended up galvanizing our group and having an unbelievable November. So, may as well do the same thing."

The Leafs went 11-1-3 last November despite dealing with injuries to key blueliners Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie and Jake Muzzin. 

"We learned a lot last year," Tavares told reporters. "It's just playing a really good, strong team game and everyone supporting one another, you know, five-man unit, six-man unit including our netminder. So, just the importance of our team game and the structure within that and allowing them [call-up defencemen] to build confidence, feel connected throughout the group. The game just comes that much easier when we're all playing at a high level and playing connected."

Max Lajoie, who has played 70 NHL games in his career, was called up from the American Hockey League and will slot in beside William Lagesson on the third pair. 

"Moves pucks well," Keefe said of the 25-year-old. "Has played in the League before. Him and Lagesson have been spending time together with the Marlies, spent a lot of time together camp. Both guys have played in the league before so that's positive and Lagesson has done a really good job for us. I expect the same for Lajoie."

Klingberg, who signed a one-year deal in the summer, will move up to the second pair alongside Mark Giordano. He started the season on the second pair with McCabe, but they didn't mesh well. 

Klingberg has five assists through 10 games, but has also been on the ice for eight goals against in 5-on-5 play, which leads all Leafs defencemen.  

"Offensively I think there is more," Klingberg said in assessing his play. "At the same time I don't want to start chasing the game. That's just going to be able to come to me as I get more comfortable and getting more chances and stuff like that. Defensively and without the puck and breakouts and all that, I think that's been pretty good. But at the same time it all goes hand in hand. If you play really good 5-on-5 with the puck and without the puck, it's going to take care of the power play and special teams and all of that. It's been a pretty good transition and a pretty good start, but there's room to get better for sure."

Klingberg's cap hit ($4.15-million) is third highest among the team's defence. 

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Lines at Leafs skate on Saturday: 

Jarnkrok - Matthews - Marner 
Bertuzzi - Tavares - Nylander 
Knies - Kampf - Domi 
Gregor - Holmberg - Reaves 

Rielly - Brodie 
Giordano - Klingberg
Lagesson - Lajoie 
Benoit 

Woll starts 
Samsonov