After the Leafs blew yet another 3-1 lead, this time to the New York Rangers on Wednesday, head coach Sheldon Keefe did not have much of anything good to say, calling his team's play "soft" and "purposeless".
After building a 3-1 lead, as previously mentioned, the Leafs went on to surrender 5 unanswered goals, losing by a score of 6-3 in what was not Jack Campbell's finest performance. However, if there's anyone who deserves a bit of a break, it's Jack.
On Friday, a key member of the Leafs' leadership group in Morgan Rielly touched on the comments of his head coach. Like a true leader, Rielly took the comments right on the chin and agreed that the team's effort on Wednesday simply was not good enough, agreeing with the message that Keefe was trying to send.
"I don't think he's wrong. I think, as a group, we have to do more in our D zone," admitted Rielly. "I think we have to protect our goalie a bit more and protect our net front."
Rielly, who has 31 points in 37 games this season, has done a much better job in the defensive zone this season, but he knows that there's always room for improvement.
The Leafs are next in action on Saturday night against the New York Islanders in Long Island, so we'll see if Keefe, Rielly and the rest of the leadership group was able to send the message to the rest of the team. We'll see which Leafs team shows up on Hockey Night in Canada.
