Devils coach Sheldon Keefe praised center Nico Hischier and subsequently ripped his team for their lack of “balls” after New Jersey’s 4-0 loss to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday.
Keefe’s pointed comments were referencing Hischier’s brief skirmish with 6-foot-3, 230-pound Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies in the third period of New Jersey’s 4-0 loss on Tuesday.
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The fight was one to forget for the Devils, with Knies almost instantly dropping Hischier, but Keefe still dished the captain high praise when asked about it after the game.
“I mean, do I want our captain and one of our best players fighting when we’re down 2-0 in the third period? Absolutely not,” Keefe said. “But do we need some guys to step up to 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.”
“So to that end, I like it. I like that Nico did it and hopefully it rubs off on the rest of the group in a positive way. I didn’t think that it did in that moment, but you want to talk about gut checks, there’s one. Your captain’s out there taking on a big guy stepping out of character. We’ll see what we have with out group. But we need more guys that are going to show a little bit more if you’re not going to score, give is a little bit more competitively and physically and show that you’re working to find your way. There’s not enough of that. We’re just kind of going about our business.”
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The Devils are in a bit of a free fall, going winless in their last four games and dropping to 20-17-2 on the season. Their last win came 12 days ago at the time of publication.