Matthew Knies got a lot of attention for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. Not only did he play a huge role in the team’s 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils, but he also lured Nico Hischier into an unexpected fight and then quickly took care of business, dropping the Devils’ captain.
Knies was the man in Toronto, with fans and analysts praising his passion, heart and strength in that situation. He tried to persuade Hischier to fight, but it seemed he wouldn’t comply. Then suddenly the gloves were off.
Hischier said of the scrap: “He asks me to go, and I don’t really want to back down, so I said yes. Obviously I tried to give the team a little spark there.” It didn’t work, at least not at that moment.
Sheldon Keefe liked the fight, but not the fight from a devil’s perspective
Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said:
“I mean, do I want our captain and one of our best players fighting when we’re down by two points in the third period? Absolutely not. But do we need some guys to step up and show some emotion and show some balls and play with some urgency and competitiveness and step out of character? Yeah, we need more of that.”
He added: “So I like it in that regard. I like that Nico did it, and hopefully it will rub off on the rest of the group in a positive way. I didn’t think that was the case at the time, but you want to talk about gut checks. There’s one: your captain is taking on a big guy, who’s stepping out of character.”
Keefe then called on the rest of his team to respond. He noted: “We’ll see what we have with our group. But we need more guys who are going to show a little bit more. If you’re not going to score, make us a little more competitive and physical and show that you’re working to find your way. There’s not enough of that. We’ll just go about our own business.”
Next: Long-Shot Oiler has forced himself into a conversation with Team Canada
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