Craig Berube Benches Veteran Max Pacioretty in Maple Leafs' Home Opener
Although the Maple Leafs won their home opener, one storyline to follow into next game is the ice-time of Max Pacioretty, who was benched during the 3rd period.
The Maple Leafs earned their 2nd victory in as many games as they were able to take down Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 4-2 on Saturday evening. With John Tavares sidelined due to an illness, the Leafs needed their stars to shine and they did just that with William Nylander potting 2 goals and Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner adding one goal apiece.
However, another storyline to follow from last night's win and into their next game on Wednesday is the status of Max Pacioretty. The veteran forward was benched for the majority of the third period, according to David Alter, as he saw just 3 limited shifts and was even taken off of the first power play unit.
Head coach Craig Berube went with 2 defensemen instead, opting to play it safer with a late lead. However, he added that he wanted to see a spark out of his units, get some players going, and see some better puck movement after a lot of stagnation.
Pacioretty was the odd-man out with the change, but that doesn't explain his lack of ice-time while playing on even-strength. He finished the night with just 10:56 TOI, which was the 4th lowest amongst forwards with only David Kampf, Steven Lorentz, and Ryan Reaves getting less ice time.
Perhaps a reason was his ill-advised offensive zone penalty near the end of the second period. With the Maple Leafs buzzing in Pittsburgh's end, Pacioretty was nailed for a hooking minor after some good sustained offensive zone pressure by the Leafs against a dog-tired Pens group. Fortunately, it didn't yield a goal for the Pens, but in a one-goal game, those are exactly the type of plays that will drive any head coach crazy - Berube included.
The Leafs play just twice next week with home games against Los Angeles on Wednesday and the New York Rangers coming into town on Saturday. It will be interesting to see what the the next 3 off days will do in terms of Pacioretty's standing with Berube and the rest of the coaching staff or if his reduction in ice time was just a one-off affair.
