Maple Leafs Notebook: Why Toronto is turning to Max Pacioretty
It’s been 75 days since Max Pacioretty appeared in an NHL game. Now, he’s set to enter the Battle of Ontario on Thursday for a Maple Leafs squad up 2-0 as the series shifts to Ottawa.
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OTTAWA — Max Pacioretty did not want to wait this long.
But now that he’s jumping on a speeding train, he has no choice but to embrace this long-deferred opportunity.
A forced 75-day sabbatical that had more to do with salary-cap constraints than physical health.
A mental challenge more than a physical one.
How did Pacioretty manage his emotions of sitting on the sidelines, working on skills and lifting weights, while the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs played hockey games?
“Um,” Pacioretty began Thursday. Then, after a pause, he thought better of it. “Yeah, I’d rather not talk about that.”
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The 36-year-old winger will finally draw into the lineup Thursday for Game 3 of the Battle of Ontario, replacing Nick Robertson on Max Domi’s third line.
“Just really excited. I waited a little bit here for this, and I’ve put in a lot of work and had a lot of great people in my corner help me out, and I’m fortunate,” Pacioretty said.
“I’m ready to go.”
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube, who is changing a lineup that has won seven straight, recognizes that Pacioretty has been victim of circumstances beyond his control.
“For sure, he wanted to be in there playing, but he’s got the opportunity now. And he’s worked hard, kept a good attitude for the most part,” Berube said.
“It’s not easy. He’s been around a long time, veteran guy. It’s always harder for those guys.”
Pacioretty’s chance comes at the expense of Nick Robertson, the least-used Leaf in Game 2’s overtime win (9:36).
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Robertson took a costly high-sticking penalty Tuesday 200 feet from Toronto’s net that led to a Brady Tkachuk power-play goal.
He sat multiple shifts in the third period as punishment.
“You really gotta manage your stick. His stick got up high,” Berube said. “Refs are calling that all day.
“Control your stick.”
Pacioretty signed a cheap one-year deal with the Maple Leafs to chase a Stanley Cup and contribute to a contender.
It took longer than he wished, but the door is now open.
“That was the goal for me,” Pacioretty said. “This is why I’m here, and now I gotta pitch in and help the team win.”
How split will the crowd be?
Senators owner Michael Andlauer has a plan.
Local season-ticket holders were given the option of buying two more seats for Round 1 in hopes of limiting the traveling Leafs fans trekking down the 401 for a discount.
But Ottawa supporters offset the hefty expense of tickets by selling their regular-season seats when the Canadiens and Leafs roll into town.
Scuttlebutt Thursday morning suggests the invasion of Leafs Nation won’t be as overwhelming as in the regular season. Best guess: 30 per cent Blue and White.
“I don’t know how many Leafs fans are gonna be allowed in the building,” Ontario native Steven Lorentz said. “But energy is energy. Doesn’t matter if they’re booing you, if they’re for you or against you.
“We expect a loud crowd in their favour, and we can feed off that as well.”
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Dylan Cozens, traded from the Sabres to the Senators at the deadline, knows all too well how it feels like when Toronto’s traveling circus takes over your own barn.
“It’s obviously not ideal. I played there in Buffalo. When we played against the Leafs, it was pretty much all Leaf fans. It’s like an away game at home,” Cozens said.
“We just got to go out and not think about it. Just go out and play, and I’m sure we’ll have great support.”
Hours before puck drop, you can’t buy your way into Canadian Tire Centre for less than $400.
“It’s definitely not cheap to go to these games,” Lorentz said.
“I’d like to think it’s worth it. You’re seeing two teams that really, really don’t like each other. And the hockey this time of year is always top notch. We appreciate they come out and play their money. They have every right to cheer or boo as loud as they want. We hear them. We feed off that. It means a lot to us.”
Cat-and-mouse game
As stingy as Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner have been 5-on-5, and as deadly they’ve been on the power play, they’ve yet to overwhelm the Senators territorially.
Matthews — the most dangerous shooter on the ice and the man who has scored more goals on Linus Ullmark than any NHLer — is still hunting his first goal of the series.
Travis Green knocked on wood when this factoid was mentioned.
“If you’re not standing on the bench, you like watching him,” Green said.
We’re watching Matthews and Marner start the vast majority of their shifts in the defensive zone as Berube’s group has played the bulk of the series with a lead.
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Only 27.3 per cent of Matthews and Marner’s shifts have started in the O-zone, which should explain Berube’s sly smile as he said, “I’m not too worried about Matthews.”
Expect Green to shove speedy shutdown centre Shane Pinto, who won most of his faceoffs in the regular season, and wingers Ridly Greig and Michael Amadio at the Matthews group.
“If they gotta play defence, it wastes their energy,” Pinto reasoned.
Getting Matthews’ line away from Pinto’s will prove challenging as the Senators get last change.
And Green, no doubt, will try to throw Tim Stützle’s scoring unit against Max Domi’s line, which is better built for offence than defending.
“He’s trying to get his matchups here at home. Changing guys on the fly. That’s all part of the cat-and-mouse game,” Berube said. “We’re just gonna go play. It’s business as usual. If we can’t get matchups, we have guys that are capable of doing the job.”
One-timers: Green is keeping mum on lineup changes, but the speedy Fabian Zetterlund took morning rushes in the top six…. Green met with Drake Batherson one-on-one Tuesday night and encouraged the forward not to dwell on the turnover (and poor backcheck) that resulted in Max Domi’s OT winner. Tim Stützle also gave his teammate a pick-me-up talk. “You live and you learn. Sometimes you make a mistake and it’s the hard way,” Batherson said. “It cost us the game, but you move on.”… Calle Järnkrok on Domi’s snipe: “Fun to see him shoot for once. That was nice.”
Maple Leafs projected Game 3 lineup vs. Ottawa Senators:
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Holmberg – Tavares – Nylander
Pacioretty – Domi – McMann
Lorentz – Laughton – Järnkrok
Rielly – Carlo
McCabe – Tanev
Ekman-Larsson – Benoit
Stolarz starts
Woll
