He’s actually been preaching this for a while now, and it’s come home to roost in two of the last three games against bottom-ranked teams.
The early signs proved Keefe right as Toronto allowed their hosts to dominate proceedings, resulting in Manitoba registering ten straight shots without response.
It took just 47 seconds for the hosts to open the scoring as Toronto’s sloppiness saw them fail to clear the zone properly. A pass from Matt Fraser took three poorly-positioned Toronto players out of the equation before Chase DeLeo went high to beat Garret Sparks.
Sparks almost cost his team a second with poor management of the puck along the backboard, while Rich Clune rescued Nikita Soshnikov after a giveaway in front.