'We Just Have To Prepare For It': Maple Leafs' Craig Berube Explains Why Ryan Reaves Will Enter Maple Leafs' Lineup In Return Matchup Against Flyers

When the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday in a home-and-home series, Ryan Reaves will be in the lineup.

The forward has been a healthy scratch for the last two games, both wins against the Boston Bruins and Flyers. Toronto's game against Philadelphia on Sunday saw a turn of unfortunate events when Jake McCabe left the game with an upper-body injury following his fight with Garnet Hathaway.

Reaves skated alongside Connor Dewar and David Kampf in his usual spot on the fourth line when he's in Toronto's lineup. With Steven Lorentz moving up to the third line, Nick Robertson will be a healthy scratch with what Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube calls a "bigger, more physical" lineup.

"I just think going off last game, too, and Reavo's been out a few games, so I wanted to get him back in. And there was some pretty big hits last game. Just gotta be prepared and kind of wanted to go with a more physical and heavier lineup tonight."

Reaves will bring a physical element to Tuesday's game. The 37-year-old leads the Maple Leafs with 23.55 hits per 60 minutes, seven more than Connor Dewar, who sits in the second spot with 16.45.

One fascinating stat about Reaves' season thus far: He hasn't fought yet.

In yet another game against the Flyers — after McCabe was injured in the first meeting — could there be some emotional spillover from the first meeting which was two nights ago?

"I mean, sometimes it does, especially if there's guys who run around or something happens in the game and you play them two games later," Reaves said on Tuesday morning. "I think obviously there's going to be some spillover. I think that's just natural in this league."

Lorentz, who had an assist and five hits in 10:29 of ice time in Sunday's matchup against the Flyers, agrees with Reaves' sentiment.

"Sure. That's hockey. That's the beautiful part about it is things happen in games that sometimes you just got to forget about it, put it in the back of your mind and you'll see them later on in the season," said the 28-year-old.

"But when it's a back-to-back, yeah, it's just a little bit more intense than that second night usually. So, we're looking forward to a good test again. They brought it last game, but we're going to try and come in here and steal another two points."

Related: Why Maple Leafs' Max Domi Was Fined By NHL Player Safety For Elbowing Flyers' Forward Garnet Hathaway

Toronto is in the bottom half of the league this season when it comes to taking penalties. Their 329 penalty minutes are 13 shy of the Flyers' total this season. We may see Reaves and Hathaway go toe-to-toe in a fight after what happened on Sunday with McCabe.

However, the Maple Leafs aren't approaching Tuesday's game against the Flyers with that in mind. Berube wants his team to stay disciplined when it comes to Hathaway, and not allow him to get under their skin.

"Well, I don't talk about him at all, really. We know what kind of player he is. He's a hard player. He does a good job at it. He's physical, and we know he's going to be physical. He's not going to shy away from it and we just gotta be prepared for it," Berube said.

"We don't want to react. We don't want to initiate. And that's the biggest thing, not reacting and taking retaliatory penalties. You're going to get hit in this league and things are going to happen. It's about being disciplined."

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