The Toronto Maple Leafs failed to close out their first-round series against the Ottawa Senators on April 26.
Toronto had a chance to sweep the Senators, but Ottawa won in overtime, forcing a Game 5 on April 29 in Toronto. Ahead of Game 5, Maple Leafs analyst and insider Steve Dangle expects Toronto to scratch Max Pacioretty and replace him with Nick Robertson.
“Take care, Max Pacioretty. That was fun. I enjoyed it, we are not going to see him again, not in Game 5, maybe later in the playoffs, but not in Game 5. I think Robertson gets in because it’s home ice,” Dangle said on The Steve Dangle Podcast on April 27… “Pacioretty, I don’t think had a good game.”
Pacioretty was a healthy scratch to begin the playoff series, but he was inserted into the lineup for Robertson in Games 3 and 4. Robertson took a bad penalty, and with the series going on the road, Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube opted to make the lineup change.
Now, with Toronto back on home ice in Game 5 and Pacioretty not playing well, Dangle expects Berube to go back to his Game 1 lineup by inserting Robertson for Pacioretty.
Pacioretty has skated in 939 career NHL games, recording 335 goals and 346 assists for 681 points. This season, he recorded 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points in 37 games.
Robertson, meanwhile, recorded 15 goals and 7 assists for 22 points in 69 games with the Maple Leafs this season.
Maple Leafs Coach Explains Original Lineup Change
Despite Toronto winning Games 1 and 2, Berube decided to scratch Robertson for Pacioretty.
After deciding on the lineup change, Berube explained his decision before Game 3 on April 24.
“A veteran guy, coming into a game here, it’s going to be tough here. Their crowd just wanted to make that change, get a veteran guy in there, a bigger guy, heavier,” Berube said.
Pacioretty hadn’t played since February 8 before getting into the lineup in Game 3. Yet, Berube had no worries about the layoff.
“I mean it’s tough for sure. But, he’s handled it fairly well, things happen; you can’t control things that happen, for sure, he wanted to be in there and be playing,” Berube said. “But he has the opportunity now. He’s worked hard, kept a good attitude for the most part, it’s not easy. He’s been around a long time, a veteran guy, it’s always harder for those guys.”
Pacioretty didn’t record a point and was a -2 in the 2 playoff games.
Maple Leafs Coach Pleased With Team in Game 4 Loss
Toronto lost in overtime to the Senators in Game 4, but is still up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The Maple Leafs had some moments in the game, and Berube says there was a lot of good to take away heading into Game 5.
“There’s a lot of good in that game,” Berube said on April 27. “I thought it was a real good hockey game to be honest with you, and I thought we played extremely well. There’s always things you can improve upon. Finishing, there are some opportunities where we could’ve finished on the power play. We had a couple of good opportunities. We had that four-minute power play, I think we could’ve generated more off of it, be a little more direct on the PP in that situation. Overall, like I said last night, it was a good hockey game, I thought we played well. Didn’t come out on top, but we’ll move on from that and get ready for practice and get ready for Game 5.”
Toronto will host Ottawa in Game 5 on Tuesday, April 29 at 7 p.m. ET.
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Insider Expects Maple Leafs to Make Lineup Change Involving 939-Game Veteran