SHELDON KEEFE AVAILABILITY RECAP
BUFFALO, NY. - The Devils did not hold a morning skate in Buffalo due to the early start time. Head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke to the media prior to puck drop. Here’s what he had to say…
On playing better on the road
More consistency in our play, especially defensively. That’s what’s gotten away from us in the road games where we’ve struggled. We’ve been loose, especially against the rush. That’s just not going to work. We’ve got to be better in that area for sure.
On why the difference on the road in defensive play
A lot of times it’s a body position thing; it’s an awareness thing. For whatever reason we’ve not been as sharp in those areas when we’ve been on the road. At home we’ve been far better and the results have been there for us. That’s an area we’ve talked ab out and will continue to talk about. It’s a major area of focus for us coming into this game against this opponent in particular.
On Nico Hischier’s line
They’re very good players. They’re shooting well below their career shooting percentage. The expectation was that they’ll turn around and heat up. Talking to them, they felt the same way. They were getting the chances. Nico in particular has had a number of chances that hadn’t fallen for him that went in with relative ease in the early going of last season. He just remained focused on his game and doing the right things and trusting that it’ll start to fall. That’s the way seasons go. There aren’t many guys that are hot all season long. It comes and goes and guys are generally streaky. It’s a good time for them to start heating up.
On the second line scoring
They’re three guys that haven’t played a lot of time together. Mercer in the middle is a different look to begin with. The first period the other night. We generated a lot of scoring opportunities. I thought that line generated a lot off the forecheck in particular. It’s an area that Palat can really lead us in. he did that. They’re three players that complement each other well. We’re looking for some combinations right now with the injuries we have and shuffling people around. They’ve done a good job. Mercer has done a quiet job. The quiet is good at a time when they need you to go in and give you some minutes at that center ice position.
On all OT and shootout games
We’re hanging around in games. We haven’t executed good enough to really pull away and get a substantial lead. We talked about it the other day. Either we haven’t scored enough to get leads or we haven’t defended well enough. It’s been a little bit of both. In general, I’ve liked how our team has hung around and been resilient. There were times that we had a lot of injuries, lot of moving parts, a demanding schedule. But we found ways to keep getting points and hanging around in games.
