Having too many good players is very seldom a bad thing, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are currently dealing with this &#8216;problem&#8217; right now. Had you told yourself at the start of the season that Ryan Reaves would have more games played on the season than Max Pacioretty, then you probably would have been convinced that either Pacioretty was off to a horrendous start to the season or Reaves was playing the best hockey of his career.
The reality is that neither of these are the case. Reaves has been playing some pretty solid hockey for his standards, and Pacioretty has been the odd-man out in terms of a fit despite scoring the Maple Leafs&#8217; first goal of the season. And with a back-to-back incoming against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the two will swap places for the first game of that back-to-back.
Head coach <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-max-pacioretty-scratched-los-angeles-kings">Craig Berube clarified</a> that Pacioretty&#8217;s initial scratching wasn&#8217;t because he was playing poorly and seemed to echo the same sentiment about Reaves ahead of Monday&#8217;s game.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Craig Berube confirms Max Pacioretty is back in the lineup, in place of Ryan Reaves: “We got back to back games here so there’s an opportunity to get fresh guys in there.”
&mdash; Arun Srinivasan (@Arunthings) <a href="https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1848383224726114519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Pacioretty has one goal in three games with the Leafs so far and although Reaves has been held pointless in his four games with a minus-2 rating, his line with David Kampf and Steven Lorentz seems to have much more of an identity than this time last year when it was the same line with Noah Gregor in Lorentz&#8217;s spot. Perhaps that&#8217;s thanks to Berube&#8217;s style, but either way, the Leafs will be taking advantage of the back-to-back to get some fresh legs into the lineup, and Pacioretty will surely be looking to make an impact after sitting out the last two games.
Berube also confirmed that goaltender Anthony Stolarz will be <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-practice-pacioretty-reaves-stolarz-power-play-extended-work-tampa-bay-lightning">making his fifth start</a> in the Leafs&#8217; first six games to open the back-to-back against Tampa Bay. In four games so far, he&#8217;s done just about everything the Leafs could have asked of him in the wake of Joseph Woll&#8217;s injury, with a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.79 and a save percentage (SV%) of .937 despite a 2-2-0 record during that time. He&#8217;s yet to allow more than two goals in a single start and has generally done a great job of keeping his team above water when the other team begins to ramp up pressure.
With the Maple Leafs headed to Columbus on Tuesday, Berube also noted that it was &#8220;possible&#8221; Joseph Woll could start, but with such strong play from Stolarz early on and an impressive debut from rookie netminder Dennis Hildeby, the team would probably be wise to wait until Woll is 100 percent good to go with no aches or bothers before bringing him back.

Having too many good players is very seldom a bad thing, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are currently dealing with this 'problem' right now. Had you told yourself at the start of the season that Ryan Reaves would have more games played on the season than Max Pacioretty, then you probably would have been convinced that either Pacioretty was off to a horrendous start to the season or Reaves was playing the best hockey of his career.

The reality is that neither of these are the case. Reaves has been playing some pretty solid hockey for his standards, and Pacioretty has been the odd-man out in terms of a fit despite scoring the Maple Leafs' first goal of the season. And with a back-to-back incoming against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the two will swap places for the first game of that back-to-back.

Head coach <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-max-pacioretty-scratched-los-angeles-kings">Craig Berube clarified</a> that Pacioretty's initial scratching wasn't because he was playing poorly and seemed to echo the same sentiment about Reaves ahead of Monday's game.

https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1848383224726114519

Pacioretty has one goal in three games with the Leafs so far and although Reaves has been held pointless in his four games with a minus-2 rating, his line with David Kampf and Steven Lorentz seems to have much more of an identity than this time last year when it was the same line with Noah Gregor in Lorentz's spot. Perhaps that's thanks to Berube's style, but either way, the Leafs will be taking advantage of the back-to-back to get some fresh legs into the lineup, and Pacioretty will surely be looking to make an impact after sitting out the last two games.

Berube also confirmed that goaltender Anthony Stolarz will be <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-practice-pacioretty-reaves-stolarz-power-play-extended-work-tampa-bay-lightning">making his fifth start</a> in the Leafs' first six games to open the back-to-back against Tampa Bay. In four games so far, he's done just about everything the Leafs could have asked of him in the wake of Joseph Woll's injury, with a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.79 and a save percentage (SV%) of .937 despite a 2-2-0 record during that time. He's yet to allow more than two goals in a single start and has generally done a great job of keeping his team above water when the other team begins to ramp up pressure.

With the Maple Leafs headed to Columbus on Tuesday, Berube also noted that it was "possible" Joseph Woll could start, but with such strong play from Stolarz early on and an impressive debut from rookie netminder Dennis Hildeby, the team would probably be wise to wait until Woll is 100 percent good to go with no aches or bothers before bringing him back.

Max Pacioretty returns to lineup for Maple Leafs, Ryan Reaves to sit against Lightning

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