Sheldon Keefe’s home debut as Devils coach is spoiled by the Maple Leafs, his former club

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Newe Jersey Devils coach Sheldon Keefe faced a familiar foe on Thursday night.

Keefe squared off against his former team when the Devils opened their home schedule against the Toronto Maple Leafs. New Jersey came out on the short end of the game, falling 4-2.

“I was adjusting to the red, then the blue and white is back again,“ Keefe kidded, citing the Devils’ colors. ”I’ve never coached against a team that I’ve been associated with in the past. We are just trying to build our own game here, but (tonight) was not nearly as close as we performed in Prague.”

The Devils won both season-opening games in Prague against the Sabres, outscoring Buffalo 7-2 last weekend in the NHL Global Series.

“I like to believe that I’m focused and content enough with where I’m at that I’m not too concerned about anything else outside of the task of competing against one of the league’s top teams,” Keefe said.

Keefe was fired by Toronto on May 9 and then promptly hired by New Jersey a few weeks later.

The Maple Leafs were one of the NHL’s best regular-season teams during Keefe’s five seasons as coach, going 212-97. But, the Maple Leafs only managed to advance past the opening round of the playoffs once, in 2023.

Keefe was 16-21 in the playoffs with the Maple Leafs. Toronto was his first coaching job in the NHL after replacing Mike Babcock in 2019. Before taking over the Maple Leafs, Keefe coached Toronto’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, for five seasons.

Scoring wasn’t the issue for Toronto last season. With the core group of forwards Auston Matthews, John Tavares and William Nylander leading the way, the Maple Leafs were second in the NHL in average goals per game (3.63).

What failed the Maple Leafs was their goaltending. Last year’s .893 save percentage ranked 23rd in the league as they failed to find stability in the goal.