Toronto Maple Leafs win in Sheldon Keefe’s debut with impressive effort

In their first game with Sheldon Keefe as head coach, the Toronto Maple Leafs ended their losing streak with an impressive victory over the Arizona Coyotes.

The excitement from the players on the Toronto Maple Leafs bench said it all as Sheldon Keefe got the victory in his NHL coaching debut.

It was almost a perfect performance as the Arizona Coyotes scored with 16.9 seconds left in the game as you saw a noticeable different style of play from the team. This was a team that looked like they had the freedom to play to their strengths and it showed right off the opening faceoff.

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You already knew this game was going to be different with Tyson Barrie scoring his first goal of the season to get an enormous weight off his shoulder. They were able to score three goals on a Coyotes team that play a disciplined style with consecutive shutouts heading into this game.

Toronto made it clear that their goal was to own the puck and drive possession for the entire game.

An important thing Keefe talked about in his first press conference was how he planned to get the team and play with more confidence

"“My message to the players today is that I’m not focused on what this team isn’t, I’m focused on what this team is,” Keefe told reporters. “We’ve got really good people here. We’ve got a lot of talent. We have the ability to make life hard on the other team in a lot of ways.“So focusing on that, we believe, will produce positive results because the players are good enough for that to happen.”"

It seemed like a breath of fresh air when you heard the players talking about what they expected to be different with Keefe as the head coach and this comes without a full team practice. You only hope that more can be done with Keefe getting more practice time and video sessions to implement his system.

There will likely be some growing pains especially with the team still on the road but as long as they continue to play with energy and pressure the opposing team when they don’t have the puck, their talent will prevail.

This was evident by the fact that the Leafs had 70 scoring chances against the 46 the Coyotes had. It also helped that they didn’t allow a goal on the penalty kill which has been one of their biggest issues this season.

If you are wondering where the main difference was with the Leafs against Arizona, look no further than the heatmap from the game which shows where the majority of their scoring chances came from.

This is an encouraging development to see an emphasis on getting the majority of the scoring chances to come in front of the net. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that the chances are higher to get better scoring chances from in tight then from the perimeter.

Of course, it will take more than one game to convince people that the Leafs can play like this on a consistent basis but you get the sense that they are content to see progress in the right direction.

With another tough test against the Colorado Avalanche Saturday, they get another chance to keep the positive vibes going and it will be important for Keefe to make sure that it can continue.

What are your thoughts on Keefe in his coaching debut? Was there something specific that you liked? Let us know in the comments below.