MORNING AVAILABILITY RECAP
MONTREAL, QC. - The Devils are in Montreal to take on the Canadiens. With the afternoon puck drop, the club did not hold a morning skate. Head coach Sheldon Keefe did meet with the media and below is the highlight of that availability.
Final Effort
The Devils will be entering the 4 Nations break following this afternoon’s game in Montreal. Due to that, the game won’t help in terms of building a lot of traction. However, it is a chance to focus solely on the game singularly.
“The fact that we have one game to focus on should allow our guys to zero in on it and be confident, go out and perform,” Keefe said. “You want two points but more importantly for us, we want to make sure we’re playing well and have our game in order for three periods.”
Simple, but Not Too Simple
One of the common cliches that gets thrown around when a team is struggling is to simplify their game. And while in some facets, that may be true. The idea of simply simplifying one’s game is, well, just too simple.
“You start to second guess yourself. Sometimes you’re trying to do too much, sometimes you’re not doing enough,” Keefe said. “You simplify it too much to the point where you’re throwing pucks away when there are simple plays to advance it and keep it in our hands and under control.
“For our better players, you need them to have a clear mind, recognize when there is a space and opportunity to make plays, opportunity to hang onto a puck.”
Response
The Devils were spoken to at length on Friday. And every time the team has had some hard conversations amongst the group, they’ve responded with their best efforts. Keefe expects the same today.
“I do expect a positive response,” he said. “We had another long talk again yesterday. The guys have a real good sense of where we’re at, where we need to go and how we need to get there. It’s only three periods of work here, one game and then some time to breathe a little bit, separate and come back with clearer heads. We need to put together a good game here and today and I believe that we will.”
Scouting Montreal
The Devils recently defeated the Canadiens on Jan. 25, 4-3, in Montreal. Despite that fact, Keefe’s focus is well beyond that game and only on his own team’s game plan for success.
“The plan for us is the same no matter who we’re playing,” Keefe said. “We need to break out clean, get out of our zone, get through the neutral zone clean, whether that’s with control or putting it behind them and forechecking. We need to get onto their half of the ice and get our game rolling there.”
--Sam Kasan
