Canada Sports News

The Toronto Maple Leafs won the clash against the Arizona Coyotes in Glendale with 3-1. Sheldon Keefe debuted successfully as the new head coach of the Canadian team, boosting his and the crew’s morale before the upcoming challenges.

The former Toronto Marlies’ head coach was excited for having the opportunity to coach the Maple Leafs and was fascinated with the overall experience from tonight’s game.

“I was really impressed with my first time being part of the group, the interaction of the players on the bench, the energy, the vibe,” he said.

Everything was about number one in this event. Apart from Keefe’s No.1 win in the NHL, Pierre Engvall netted his first career goal, while Tyson Barrie scored the first of the season.

The 28-year old defensemen opened the show 46 seconds before the end of the first period, firing a wrist shot from the right face-off circle and beating Darcy Kuemper.

It was the same scenario in the second frame, with both teams waiting to profit from an opponents’ mistake. The Maple Leafs netted in the late part of the sequence through Engvall. It was a major boost for the guests who were shorthanded at the moment. The rookie was faster than the rivals, taking the puck in the neutral zone and executing routinely past Kuemper. It was at 16:49 of the period.

The Arizona-native, Auston Matthews raised the lead to 3-0 after just 48 seconds inside the third. It was a shocker that totally killed the morale of the home team.  Maple Leafs’ center sent the puck between Kuemper’s legs.

“A big two points with everything that’s been going on the past couple of weeks and the past 36 hours,” he said.

Toronto’s players went through a shock after Mike Babcock’s departure. He was leading the Maple Leafs for four and a half years, reaching the playoffs in the previous three. But each time, the team suffered elimination in the first round. The recent streak of bad results, during which Toronto couldn’t win for six games in a row (0-5-1), as the last straw and the 56-year old had to go.

Matthews also said that he and his teammates were giving their best to fulfill the requests of the new coach, who didn’t have enough time to adjust to the situation.

“With everything that (Keefe) threw at us in a short period of time that he’d like to see, I thought we executed that for the most part.”

Vinnie Hinostroza managed to bank one for the hosts, 17 seconds before the end of the game. Arizona (13-8-1) played well up unit this match, losing just one game in the last five. They are now heading for Los Angeles to face the Kings on Saturday.

On the other side, the Maple Leafs (10-10-4) are past the middle of their six-game tour. Their next destination is Denver, where they meet the Colorado Avalanche. After that, Toronto heads for Detroit and Buffalo.