Maple Leafs Coach Has Surprising Reaction After Blowing 5-1 Lead

The Toronto Maple Leafs finished off the Tampa Bay Lightning in impressive fashion on Monday and were in Florida to take on the Panthers on Tuesday. After getting out to a 5-1 lead, the Leafs let the 'comeback kids' back in the game and next thing you know the Panthers won the game 7-6 in overtime. While some coaches would be pissed off with the result, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe had a much different reaction after the game.

Keefe mentioned to the media that he's content with where his team is at right now, and had this to say to David Alter of The Leafs Nation:

I'm going to focus on the fact that we played another good hockey game today. We were bad in moments. You can't take a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty. You can't give up a shorthanded goal from a clear shot from the blue line. You can't have your fourth line take a penalty. All those things we can't do in those moments. This last little stretch we've been on where we played Florida at home, Boston on the road, Tampa last night, play Florida here. To me, I was looking to come out of this little segment of the schedule with a sense of where we're at as a team and whether we can compete with the very best in our division. And the answer is unequivocally yes.

Toronto's schedule is getting tough down the stretch as they round out the year. The Leafs are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games and are only three points behind the Lightning for second spot in the Atlantic division. Here's the rest of what the Maple Leafs coach had to say after their collapse in Florida: