WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Craig Berube has clearly seen enough. After continuing to hand out ice time to players who were struggling to start the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach took the necessary step of scratching Dakota Joshua for Wednesday night\u2019s win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.<\/p>\n
It was a move that had been a long time coming. Joshua hardly impacted play through his first 22 games. The physicality and directness in Joshua\u2019s game that the Leafs traded for have only come in spurts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obviously been a struggle to start, and the only good thing about it is it\u2019s only up from here. And that hopefully we\u2019ve seen the worst, and personally and team-wise, that we\u2019re in a spot that this doesn\u2019t have to be the end of the story,\u201d Joshua recently<\/a> told The Athletic.<\/p>\n For Joshua, his night in the press box was indeed just a short chapter in his Leafs story. Berube said Joshua will draw back into the lineup against the Washington Capitals on Friday night. Joshua practiced on a line with Nicolas Roy and Bobby McMann on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think some players need a reset,\u201d Berube said of the benefits of scratching a player like Joshua. \u201cThere\u2019s different situations why you scratch a guy, and it\u2019s not because of effort or anything with him. I just felt like (Joshua) needed to get a reset, and sometimes that\u2019ll put a little more fire in them, too.\u201d<\/p>\n For Berube, the scratching of Joshua, as well as Matias Maccelli, was warranted. It was evidence that, in the middle of a trying slump, Berube was not happy with the status quo.<\/p>\n Berube preached accountability early in his Leafs tenure. This season, Berube has often kept players in the lineup even when they haven\u2019t held their weight.<\/p>\n Scratching Joshua and Maccelli suggests, however, that Berube is ready to continue taking regular NHL players out of his lineup if it gives his team a jolt. You can argue that this Leafs team, still flirting with a disastrous season, needs changes to its lineup. The overtime win over the Blue Jackets was just their second in nine games and kept the demons at bay for now.<\/p>\n So now, could Max Domi be the next player to spend a game in the press box? And if so, what would that mean for the Leafs\u2019 lineup?<\/p>\n \u201cI think positionally he\u2019s been solid,\u201d Berube said of Domi after Thursday\u2019s practice. \u201cI know his plus\/minus doesn\u2019t say that, but that\u2019s not really \u2026 I wouldn\u2019t say positionally that causes a lot of that. For me, (Domi needs to) get engaged more in the game. He\u2019s got to get dirty down low in the offensive zone, win battles and get more engaged that way and get to the inside of the ice more. That\u2019s what I see. And when he\u2019s skating and moving, he\u2019s an effective player. But it\u2019s too inconsistent.\u201d<\/p>\n It was difficult during Thursday\u2019s practice to get an accurate read on what kind of lineup Berube will roll out. William Nylander did not practice due to a maintenance day and Berube insisted his star winger would play against the Capitals. Nylander\u2019s absence then put a massive asterisk over the forward lines rolled out during practice:<\/p>\n Knies-Matthews-Robertson <\/p>\n Domi\/Maccelli-Tavares-Cowan <\/p>\n Joshua-Roy-McMann <\/p>\n Lorentz-Laughton-J\u00e4rnkrok <\/p>\n And yet there are reasons to suggest Domi might soon be scratched for the first time in his Leafs tenure.<\/p>\n During practice, Domi and Maccelli split reps on a line with John Tavares and Easton Cowan, leaving the door open for one or both of them to sit against the Capitals. They also split reps during power-play drills.<\/p>\n This comes after Domi could not complete a pass in his own zone during the third period against the Blue Jackets. The turnover led to a three-on-two against the Leafs and a Zach Werenski goal.<\/p>\n THAT ONE WILL COUNT! \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f<\/p>\n Zach Werenski opens the scoring late for the Blue Jackets \ud83d\udea8 pic.twitter.com\/zSJedlx1IA<\/a><\/p>\n