Amid four-game skid, Keefe unsure which Leaf is ‘going to get the job done’

The Maple Leafs held a meeting at their hotel in Calgary on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s game against the Flames. 

A four-game losing streak has brought into sharp focus a problem that has plagued the Maple Leafs all season long. 

"It's sort of highlighted some of the issues that we have as a team in terms of closing these games out," said coach Sheldon Keefe. "I don't think it's necessarily just an issue here in these days, it's all season long. That's why we've failed to win in regulation with the regularity that we'd want to see."

Toronto has just 13 regulation wins, which is 25th overall. Every team below them in that category – Minnesota, Ottawa, Anaheim, Montreal, Columbus, Chicago and San Jose  – is outside of a playoff spot.

The Leafs have held a third-period lead in each game during this slide. It's been a multi-goal lead in three of the games. In fact, five of the Leafs' last seven setbacks have come after they held a multi-goal lead.

The team has simply been unable to execute at key times. 

"Who are we going to rely on in those moments?" Keefe wondered during a 12-minute session with reporters. "Who's going to go out and get the job done? Despite the fact we're through the halfway point of the season here now, 42 games in, I still have a lot of questions, quite honestly, about who is going to go out and we can say, for certain, he's going to get the job done for us."

That eyebrow-raising admission came in a response to a question about defenceman T.J. Brodie, who has been one of Toronto's steadier players in recent years.  

"Defensively, he has given up more and hasn't been as consistent as we have come to rely upon," Keefe said, while also noting the 33-year-old battles top lines most nights. 

It's not just Brodie who has blinked in big moments. 

Toronto's top line (Auston Matthews between Pontus Holmberg and Mitch Marner) and top defenceman (Morgan Rielly) was on the ice when the Edmonton Oilers scored the game-winning goal late in the third period on Tuesday. It came at the end of a lengthy shift, which included an icing call. Edmonton had Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the attack to exploit the advantage. 

"Last night, we're tired," Keefe said. "We can't get the puck out a couple times and now you got to really be dialed in and protect your net." 

Toronto's top line was also on the ice when Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon scored the game-winning goal late in the third period on Saturday night. 

"We've cracked at the wrong times," Keefe said. "That's what's happened here in this last little stretch."

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After Tuesday's loss, Marner admitted he was feeling "pissed off" about the blown leads. 

"Obviously it's frustrating," Matthews echoed. 

The Leafs have fallen one point behind Detroit in the battle for the third and final automatic playoff spot out of the Atlantic Division. Toronto is just one point up on Tampa Bay, the other team currently in a wildcard spot, and two points up on the three teams tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference. 

Keefe is reminding his longer-tenured players of their track record. 

"We have been an elite team in the regular season for a number of years," he said. "You don't get to that without finding a way to close out games. You don't win a playoff series against Tampa Bay — with how tight those games were and how hard we had to defend through those games to persevere — without the ability to be mentally tough. We have that within us."

As for the new players, who are struggling to find a fit in Toronto? 

"For some of them, they are in different types of roles than they have been in during their careers and are in different types of spots, but it's about finding some familiarity and embracing those opportunities," Keefe said. "For me, it is about continuing to push and challenge them and make them aware of what is happening. We went through a lot of that this morning. It's also giving them the confidence to know they can push through this. They have done it a number of times. As much as things are intense and pressure rises in those critical moments, it is still the same game that they have played in the early periods to get those leads and be in control."

Keefe described Wednesday's meeting as "lengthy" with some blunt talk. But the coaching staff also stressed positives.  

"It's a matter of making sure that they understand the things we've done really well to get leads," Keefe said. "I mean, in order to blow leads you have to get leads and in order to get leads you got to do good things and we have done that and put ourselves in position to win games here of late."

Toronto has surrendered just 11 goals in 5-on-5 play in the last nine games, which ranks second overall behind the Winnipeg Jets since Dec. 30. 

"Reality is over the last month we've been one of the top defensive teams in the NHL," Keefe said. "We've given up very little at 5-on-5." 

Facing a red-hot Oilers team on Tuesday night, Keefe liked how his team executed the game plan. 

"We showed a number of clips where we were in control of things defensively, won the puck back, and transitioned to offence, which was a huge part of our plan last night — to defend hard, transition to offence, and get opportunities to score. I thought we did that part of the game as well as we have in quite a long time," Keefe said. "It is there. It is in us. It is on me to continue to remind them about that and push them at the same time to find their way through this."

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Marner stressed the importance of tuning out the outside noise during this losing streak. 

"We know we're doing the right things," the winger insisted in the aftermath of Tuesday's defeat. "We're a great hockey team and we got to ignore what everyone else says. We know we're a great hockey team. We show it every night. These last four games where we've had leads, we've played some awesome hockey, some great hockey."

What, specifically, is Marner liking about the team's recent play? 

"Just the flow of our team," Marner said. "D-men are jumping in, a lot of guys have been covering very well, a lot of communication on the ice and finding holes. We had a lot of chances to extend that lead and their goalie made some big saves and we weren't able to capitalize on a couple chances." 

The Oilers have now won 11 straight games. 

"Honestly, I thought we played a pretty solid game," Matthews said. "Obviously that's a good team over there playing with a lot of confidence ... We'd like to not be giving up these leads but, on the positive side, there are a lot of good things that we are doing and it's just a matter of being consistent and executing on some of these opportunities later in games." 

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It would definitely help if the offence revved up a bit more. Keefe felt his team could have potted three or four goals in the first period on Tuesday, but failed to finish some great chances against Stuart Skinner. 

"We got to score a little more," Keefe said. "Give ourselves a little more breathing room. Put the dagger in the opposition when you have a chance."

John Tavares has gone five games without a point for the first time since signing with the Leafs on July 1, 2018. William Nylander has gone four games without a point for the first time this season. Part of this is simply bad luck. 

"When I go back and look at it, Tavares and Nylander — through the game, if you look at the scoring chances — were probably our most consistent contributors throughout the game in generating chances," Keefe noted. "With Willy, I don’t know how many crossbars and posts Willy has hit in the last five or six games, but it has been a lot."

Nylander fired a team-high six shots on net on Tuesday. Tavares finished with five. 

Tavares is 33-years-old and has been trending in the wrong direction production-wise for about a month. He has three goals and two assists in 14 games since Dec. 19. Before Tuesday's outing in Edmonton, Tavares insisted his game was in a good spot overall. 

This is the longest point drought for Tavares since February of 2018 when he was with the New York Islanders. He is scoring on just 7.9 per cent of his shots this season, which is down from his career average of 12.8 per cent. 

"To me, defensively, John has done a good job for us," Keefe said. "I see a little bit of fatigue going on with John. To me, he doesn't have the same pop and jump that he's had. Maybe that's a symptom of our schedule."

Despite the losing streak, the Leafs opted not to hold a full practice on Wednesday. 

"We just finished playing five games in eight nights, four in the last six, and we got three in four coming here starting tomorrow night and this all coming off of a California trip, so it's been a challenge," Keefe said. "When we can get days like this to recover I think it's important."

The Leafs have not held a full practice since last Wednesday. 

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Holmberg picked up two assists on Tuesday in his second game on the top line with Matthews and Marner. 

"I thought it was really good," Matthews said of the chemistry. "I thought it took a really big step from the other night. Just trying to encourage him to play his game and not necessarily defer because he's an incredible player with great skill and extremely smart. So encouraging him to go and do his thing and make plays and play his game. I thought he really did that."

It was only the second multi-point night in Holmberg's 53-game career. The 24-year-old Swede said it was "fun to hear" the praise from Matthews and Marner in recent days.

"It feels good," Holmberg told reporters after Sunday's 4-2 loss to Detroit. "I know I can play with them." 

Holmberg's confidence is rising along with his point total. He has two goals and four assists in the last six games. 

"He's a guy who works extremely hard," Marner said. "Gets himself into dirty areas, plays very well defensively, seems to be in the right spot a lot of times, make plays and takes a bit of a beating as well. The language barrier is coming around nicely."

Holmberg, who rarely does interviews, has worked hard to improve his English. 

"It's a little bit better for sure," Matthews said with a smile. "I didn't know if I was going to need a translator with Jarny [Calle Jarnkrok] next to me the other night. His English has come a long way. It definitely makes it easier to communicate. Myself and Mitch, we like to talk, we like to communicate after shifts, so it helps."     

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Leafs players, who skated on Wednesday:

Forwards: Ryan Reaves, Nick Robertson 

Defence: Simon Benoit, William Lagesson, Conor Timmins 

Goalies: Ilya Samsonov, Joseph Woll