Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe called out the Tampa Bay Lightning after Game 3, charging them with ‘manipulating the officials’ to gain an advantage on the ice.
“It’s a classic example of a veteran championship team like Tampa Bay manipulating the officials and taking advantage of a situation,” said Keefe. “They know we’re basically already going on the power play … so it’s a free-for-all. They can do whatever they want, and they just know the way the games get called, they’re not going to get another penalty.”
The two teams came together after Toronto’s Morgan Rielly drove the Bolts’ Brayden Point into the boards. Kucherov went after the Leafs defenseman, hitting him into the glass and taking him down to the ice. Other players paired off before gloves were dropped and punches thrown.
In total, 26 penalty minutes were handed out during the scrum, including fighting majors to the Leafs’ Auston Matthews and Ryan O’Reilly, as well as to Tampa’s Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. When the dust settled, the Leafs ended up on the power play.
Rielly was given a major for boarding, a penalty that was rescinded by the officials via video review. Point, who appeared to be injured on the hit, later returned to the game.
Keefe charged that the fights were strategic, in that they put three of the players on the Leafs’ top power play unit in the penalty box.
“Credit to Tampa for recognizing that situation,” Keefe said. “It’s a free pass. You can do what you want. Not only do they get out of it unscathed, but they take Matthews and O’Reilly with them to the box. Brilliant play by the Lightning there in manipulating that situation.”
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper responded to the charges, as reported by ESPN’s Kristen Shilton, rightfully pointing out that two of his top players were also sequestered for the following five minutes.
“Manipulating the referees? All right, I’m not sure what that means,” Cooper told ESPN. “When that hit [on Point] happened, I think everyone in the building, including us, thought we were going on the power play. Our two best power-play players [Stamkos and Kucherov], I don’t think they would ever sit there and take themselves off a power play unless they thought something happened… That [manipulating part] is a little different for me.”
Here are Keefe’s full post-game comments on the fight:
“In terms of the fight and all of that, I mean, I look at that whole sequence… First of all, I love how [Matthews] stood up for himself. Again, just another example of our guys standing in there.”
“But the fight itself, I mean, it’s a classic example of a veteran championship team like Tampa Bay manipulating the officials and taking advantage of a situation.”
“They know we’re basically already going on the power play because of the Kucherov situation, so it’s a free-for-all. They can do whatever they want, and they just know the way the games get called, they’re not going to get another penalty.”
“I mean, you watch that sequence back, and to say that we shouldn’t be on a 5-on-3… The official is literally holding Steven Stamkos with one arm, and his other hand, with no glove on, is punching Auston Matthews. Not the linesman. The referee who calls the penalties was holding Stamkos while this was happening.”
“It’s five-on-five instead of us getting another penalty there. Credit to Tampa for recognizing that situation. It’s a free pass. You can do what you want. Not only do they get out of it unscathed, but they take Matthews and O’Reilly with them to the box. Brilliant play by the Lightning there in manipulating that situation.”
