Sheldon Keefe targets Matthews and Nylander in postgame rant against his own players!

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe didn’t have a problem roasting his players in his postgame presser on Tuesday night, following a 6-3 loss at the hands of the New Jersey Devils.

“Hated lots about our game tonight and hopefully the players hated it just as much or more.

“We just overdid. It was just really immature. Really immature all the way through our game. I thought it was immature from our most experienced players and our leaders. And then our players who are immature, our inexperienced guys, I mean, we made lots of mistakes,” said Keefe.

He was not the only one on the team who did not like the Maple Leafs’ game. Both star forwards Auston Matthews and William Nylander also called out the players for their immaturity and sloppiness on the ice, saying the club was capable of much more.

When Keefe was informed that both Matthews and Nylander had also expressed their frustration with the Leafs’ performance, the head coach did not take it easy on them and targeted them with his criticism, demanding they lead by example:

“They got to be the example. John Tavares has been the example for us. He’s been outstanding for us for a long period of time. He himself got carried away tonight. That’s our captain. So if that’s going to happen, well, like the rest of our bench is now, we’re just making it up as we go. When you do that, you open the door for the opposition to have a good night. And they did that. And I thought the last goal at the end of the third period there, that’s indicative of our second and third periods.”

The PR team put an end to the post-loss Q&A, but everyone had the time during the game to see Toronto’s bad start, 19 giveaways and its penalty kill tumble to 27th in the league.

“You can’t let in the first shot of the game,” Keefe said. “That’s two in a row now.

“We got incredibly sloppy and careless, and that’s disappointing.”

Can you imagine what the head coach added in the dressing room after that? Let’s see how the Maple Leafs respond on Thursday against the Washington Capitals.

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