Leafs' Reaves vows to keep inflicting pain legally now that suspension is done

The Toronto Maple Leafs practised at Ford Performance Centre in Toronto on Tuesday. 

The Leafs have a team policy prohibiting suspended players from speaking to the media until they are eligible to return to the lineup. So, Tuesday represented the first chance for Ryan Reaves to offer his perspective on what happened on Nov. 16 when he received a major penalty and game misconduct for a a hit to the head of Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse. The NHL Department of Player Safety suspended Reaves five games for the hit. 

"Just took a couple inches too bad of an angle and caught him," said Reaves. "Just an unfortunate incident that if I'm a second later I catch body. Obviously, something you don't want to see, but just a split-second too early."

At 6-foot-4, Nurse noted that there's lots of his body that's available to be hit. 

"You can argue about the intent, but there's certain guys in the league that, each shift they go out there, they try and go inflict pain," Nurse told reporters in Edmonton on Nov. 21. "I think it's pretty obvious what was going on there."

Nurse sustained an upper-body injury and missed three games. 

"When you get caught by somebody I think you're entitled to your opinion and that's fine," Reaves responded. "But I think my 900 games and however many thousands of hits I have speaks for itself. I play physical every game and I've been doing it for 15 years and I've only had a couple suspensions."

Reaves has played 893 regular-season games and been credited with 3,006 hits. He's also suited up in 116 playoff games. This was his fourth career suspension and first since 2021. 

"The only truth that he spoke was I go out there to inflict pain," Reaves continued. "That's a fact and that's not going to stop, but I'm going to continue to do it legally. Yeah, I'm going to keep playing hard if not harder now, and I'm going to keep burying guys."

Reaves sought out Nurse after he was ejected from the game in order to check on his condition and offer an in-person apology. 

"The reason I've stuck around so long is I don't take suspensions," said Reaves, who only took four minor penalties in his first 15 games this season. "I'm not in the box a lot. I try and play within the rules of the game. So, when something like that happens and a hit gets away from me, you know, I don't want to see anybody laying on the ice with a head injury, obviously."

What did Reaves think about the length of the ban, which cost him $35,156.25? 

"I don't want to get into that," he said. "I already told the kids that Christmas is cancelled. I don't want to get fined again. It's over so we're just going to leave it at that." 

Reaves lamented the fact that his suspension came during Toronto's lightest section of the schedule. 

"It's been a long stint," the Winnipeg native said. "I'm just excited to get back in the lineup with the boys and, yeah, just bring more energy."

Did he miss talking to the media? 

"I always miss you guys," he said with a smile. "I was begging for an interview." 

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Reaves will have a new linemate in Wednesday's game against the Nashville Predators. Recent call-up Nikita Grebenkin is the left winger on the fourth line. He also enjoys the rough stuff. 

"I think it's going to be a nice tandem," Reaves said with a grin. 

Grebenkin knocked over Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Wyatt Kaiser in the final seconds of Monday's 4-1 win, which started a scrum at the buzzer. 

"I stay ice, you stay ice," the 21-year-old explained. "I play, you play. Don't stop. Don't relax. You play NHL, you understand. I kill you, you kill me. Its business."

The feisty Russian, who stands 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, let out a big laugh. 

"He doesn't take any time off, that guy," said coach Craig Berube with a smile. "He's a hard-working kid. I think he's got a real good future. I do. You know, I like his grit, his determination that he plays with."

Grebenkin, who helped Magnitogorsk Metallurg win a KHL title last season, is only five games into his NHL career. He's landed five hits and two shots so far. He also drew a penalty on Monday night.

Grebenkin played 13 games with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL (without taking a penalty) before a rash of injuries necessitated his promotion. 

"Now, there's a lot to learn," Berube continued. "He's a young guy and hasn't played a lot of pro over here, obviously. So he's learning on the way, learning on the fly. And he's strong. He's a big guy, strong on the puck. He's just got to learn the game."

The fifth round pick in the 2022 draft is also still learning the language. 

"I told him we gotta do one or two English words a day," said Reaves. "We've been slipping the last couple days, but we're going to work on it. It's usually fun words first, so I probably can't talk about it."

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Jake McCabe missed Monday's game for precautionary reasons. 

"Just to be extra cautious," the defenceman explained. "Anytime you get a blow to the head, just want to make sure everything's good to go."

McCabe took a puck to the side of the head during Saturday's game in Tampa while boxing out Jake Guentzel in front of the net. He doesn't think the shot from Nick Perbix caught any helmet. 

"Pretty scary," the 31-year-old said. "But, yeah, they take good care of us here, so move on from it and keep chugging along."

McCabe skated in his usual spot beside Chris Tanev at practice and is ready to play Wednesday. 

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With McCabe out, Philippe Myers got a chance to play only his second game with the Leafs this season. Myers picked up an assist while logging 18 minutes and 27 seconds of ice time. He finished with seven hits and four shots. Both numbers led the team. 

"He was really good," said Berube, who had urged the 6-foot-5 righty to use his shot before the game. "He was competitive and moved the puck well."

Myers was playing his first NHL game since Oct. 26 when he saw 12 minutes and 11 seconds of ice time in a loss to the Bruins. 

"I give Phil a lot of credit, man," McCabe said. "He steps right in and fits right in and plays great, plays heavy, plays simple. I told him that last night. He looked great. Not even with his play, but just off the ice. I know it's not an easy position to be in when you're the seventh, eighth guy on the depth chart sometimes, and you go through stretches of not playing. But every time I see him, he's got a smile on his face and he's working hard in the gym. He's just a great guy to be around."

Myers, who slotted in beside Morgan Rielly against the Blackhawks, remained in the top six at Tuesday's practice. He slotted in on the third pair beside Simon Benoit. 

Conor Timmins was bumped to the fourth pair with recent call-up Marshall Rifai. 

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Forwards Max Domi and Max Pacioretty rejoined practice as they continue to work their way back from lower-body injuries. 

"Getting close," said Berube. "It's great they're in practice ... when they get the clearance from the doctors, then they make the decision on if they're good to go."

Neither guy will suit up on Wednesday. 

Domi has missed five games since being forced from the lineup with a nagging issue. 

Pacioretty has been out since getting hurt on Nov. 9 on an innocuous looking play. 

"Defenceman pushes me from behind while the shot's coming from our point, so I try and dodge the puck so it doesn't hit me in the face at the same time, and just got tangled up there," he recalled. 

Pacioretty immediately clutched the back of his leg and needed help getting off the ice. 

It's only the latest injury adversity for the 36-year-old, who has had to overcome a pair of Achilles tears in recent years. What sort of challenge does that present mentally? 

"It's no challenge," he insisted. "I've been down this road before and do everything I can, use this time to maybe work on some areas that I can get better at, and that's how I've used the last three weeks."

Pacioretty is not eligible to be activated off the long term injured reserve until Saturday's game in Pittsburgh. 

"I feel really good," he said. "Some of it's not in my control, but I feel really good."

Pacioretty is off to a strong start with the Leafs with six points, all at even strength, in 13 games. He was the last player off the ice at practice on Tuesday.  

"I've learned that there's sometimes — you don't want to ever get injured — a bit of a silver lining," he said. "Sometimes you can work on some stuff and get your body feeling right in a time of the year where it normally doesn't ever feel right."

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Assistant coach Marc Savard, who oversees the power play, missed practice due to illness. So it was Berube who pulled the top unit together for some reps at the end of the workout. 

"They haven't had a lot of time together," the coach explained. "I wanted them to move the puck around. Nashville's a very good PK, No. 1 in the league, and they're going to come with a lot of pressure everywhere."

The Predators have killed at an 89 per cent clip this season. 

The Leafs are 0/3 on the man advantage since Auston Matthews returned from injury two games ago. With Matthews back, Berube is going with a five-forward look on the man advantage. The Leafs have used that formation in three games this season. 

"It's about quick puck movement and know where your outs are and those sort of things," he said. "That's why I just wanted to get some touches in today with that."

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On Monday night, William Nylander made a nice feed to spring Matthews for a breakaway. The Leafs captain made no mistake.  

"Just try to get speed and Willy made a really nice pass," Matthews said. "I was in all alone so just try to make a quick move and try to beat the goalie."

It was Matthews' first goal since Halloween. 

The 27-year-old is still shaking off the rust following a nine-game absence. 

"Just continue to get my legs back, the lungs back, and just get back in game shape," he said. "I think each game will feel better and better."

"He's not up to speed yet for sure," Berube acknowledged. "We all know that. But a big goal by him. But it's going to take a little time, you know, practice time and getting some practice, which is going to be difficult with the schedule. But, he's working at it, so he'll get there. Yeah, I've got no worries about it. He'll get there."

Matthews missed nearly four weeks of action due to a nagging upper-body injury. 

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Berube intended to start rookie pivot Fraser Minten on Monday night, but Matthews was announced as the starting centre in the arena. 

"I was like, 'What?' So I called Steve Kozari over, the referee, and I just told him, 'I don't know. We got Minten down, but I heard Matthews,'" Berube said. "He goes, 'Well put Matthews out there just to start the game.'"

The Predators got penalized for playing the incorrect starting lineup in a game last month. Berube was called for that infraction a couple years ago in St. Louis. 

"We were told we were starting," Minten said. "And then they were announcing it and Auston's name came up, and everyone was kind of looking around, like, 'We don't want to get a penalty.' So, Auston just went out there."

Matthews joined third-line wingers Steven Lorentz and Nick Robertson and changed shortly after winning the faceoff. 

"These computers screw everything up," Berube said to laughs in explaining how lineups are submitted. "I used to write'em out, you know, on paper. I'd rather do that."

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Minten didn't start the game, but he helped finish it. 

After Chicago scored to draw within 2-1 in the third period, the Minten line hit the ice and set up shop in the offensive end. Minten sent a puck to Timmins at the point and headed toward the net. 

"We were just talking a bit in the intermission that they are pretty collapsed in tight, so get pucks up to the point, and did that coming around the net," the 20-year-old said. "Timmer made a smart play banking it there and it bounced right to me."

Minten made a nice, quick shot for his second career goal. He's already up to four points in five games this season.

"Really like a vet on the bench," Berube said. "He's already got that mindset and mentality and knows the game extremely well. He's not a guy you've got to really teach a whole lot to. I mean, it's just he needs reps. And because he understands the game, he understands the systems very well. He has a very good hockey IQ."

Minten surprisingly made the Leafs roster out of training camp last year and got into four games before being sent back to the Western Hockey League. 

"He's learned from his time last year and just what the league's about," centre John Tavares said. "How you have to compete and just the awareness of the game. I think his hockey IQ, and that side of it, he's exceptional with."

"Maybe not the fastest guy," Matthews noted, "not the biggest and strongest guy, but I just think the way he's able to adapt his game for what the situation presents, I think that just really stands out to me."

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Anthony Stolarz was handed a pair of sunglasses by a member of the Leafs social media team before going back onto the ice as the first star on Monday night. 

"There's a camera on it so I was just like, 'Yeah, sure, why not,'" the 30-year-old said with a smile and shrug. "It was a little dark, but I guess there was a camera inside there."

Stolarz is seeing things clearly on the ice. He stopped 27 of 28 shots on Monday and received the player-of-the-game belt in the dressing room. What did the 30-year-old like about his game? 

"Just the way I was able to battle and compete," he said. "They are throwing a lot of pucks at the net. Probably could have done a better job controlling some of those rebounds, especially early, but that's why we got five other guys on the ice who are there to help me and kind of bail me out. So, it allowed me to kind of settle in. They like to go low to high, a lot of net plays, so I thought I was reading the play well and just able to see over their guys in traffic and just control that shot."

Stolarz improved his record to 8-4-2 and bumped his save percentage up to .924 on the season. 

"He's really competitive, and he talks a lot out there too," said Minten. "He's one of the most talkative goalies I've ever seen, just directing traffic in the D-zone. It helps a lot. Sometimes you lose your guys and he's letting you know."

"It's a booming voice, too," noted McCabe. "So you can hear it. It always helps any time. You know, you've got six guys out there, so I want everyone talking like that because it opens up your vision a little bit and slows the game down just a micro-second for you to make a play in the middle of the ice or knowing that you've got time or whatever it may be. Or, you know, avoiding hits when there's pressure. So he does a great job of that. It's contagious as well, so the other five guys in the ice can learn from it and use their voice as well."

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The Leafs have a pair of hot goalies at the moment. Joseph Woll picked up his fifth straight win on Saturday while seeing his save percentage rise to .923. Entering Tuesday's games, Stolarz and Woll rank third and fourth in that category among goalies with at least eight starts. 

"They have a great relationship," Berube said. "I think they are really tight, and it goes a long way. For everyone in the room and the whole team, the camaraderie is important, and they have it."

"When you have two guys going like this we're just going to push each other in practice and in games," Stolarz said. "I'm sure it gives the team a lot of confidence out there to be able to go and play their game."

It's helped the Leafs to become one of the stingiest teams in the NHL. Toronto is allowing just 2.54 goals per game, which is third overall.

"The way him and Joe have been playing for us all year just gives us the confidence that we're in any game that we're playing in," said Matthews. 

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Lines at Tuesday's practice: 

Knies - Matthews - W. Nylander 
Holmberg - Tavares - Marner 
Robertson - Minten - Lorentz 
Grebenkin - Dewar - Reaves

Pacioretty (LTIR) - Domi (IR) - A. Nylander 

McCabe - Tanev 
Rielly - Ekman-Larsson 
Benoit - Myers 
Rifai - Timmins 

Stolarz & Woll