Maple Leafs scratching Max Domi, shaking up power play against Predators

NASHVILLE — Max Domi will be healthy scratched for a second time this season as Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube makes multiple lineup changes in Nashville Saturday coming off Thursday’s dispiriting shutout loss to Washington.

Domi is under contract with Toronto through 2027-28 at a $3.75 million cap hit but has struggled with consistency since signing the longest contract of his career.

The 30-year-old is mired in a 22-game goal drought. He has three goals and 12 points through 32 games and holds a team-worst minus-13.

Following the veteran’s first scratch on Nov. 28, he jumped to Auston Matthews’ top line and posted five assists in a three-game run. Domi had since dropped out of the top six.

Berube did not announce Domi’s scratch pregame. It is a sensitive subject in Leafland.

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In for Domi comes winger Matias Maccelli, who will play his first game of December.

“We’ve got to get him in there soon. I’d like to, anyhow,” Berube said earlier this week. “He’s been out long enough due to unplanned circumstances, but we need him. This guy is a good player, and my job is to get him back in the lineup.”

In addition to Maccelli, fourth-line centre Scott Laughton will see a second new winger in ex-Predator Calle Järnkrok, who draws in for Steven Lorentz.

On the back end, Philippe Myers, who hasn’t played since Dec. 6, replaces Henry Thrun and jumps to the right side of Morgan Rielly.

The changes don’t end there.

Berube — who’s had one-on-one chats with John Tavares and William Nylander since Thursday’s 0-for-5 power-play debacle — announced that he is mixing up his PP personnel.

He declined to get into specifics, and the Maple Leafs have not practised their power play since Thursday.

“Just because I didn’t want to, that’s all. I just didn’t want to get there,” Berube said. “I wanted to do work on other things, and I didn’t want to be out there very long.”

Neutral-zone defence was a key focus of Friday’s practice.

“We want to be more aggressive, get more pucks back,” winger Bobby McMann said. “Make sure that we’re effective in that neutral zone, because it’s a big part of the game, and a lot of the game ends up being played there.”

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Berube did not speak to the Leafs immediately after their loss to the Capitals but did hold a meeting with his players Friday, and his leaders spoke up.

“They definitely have to lead. And they did. They were vocal about things the other night, which was good,” Berube said.

The meeting touched on X’s and O’s. More important was addressing the mindset of the group.

“We looked heavy in that game,” Berube said. “Like, we gotta trust our abilities. And we’ve got a good team here. Just loosen up and go play and to your abilities, right? We can make more plays than we are — and we have to make more plays. We need to have puck more.”

The Maple Leafs are promising a response Saturday against a Predators team trying to crawl out of the Central Division basement.

“We’re aware of where we’re at and how much more we want to bring, how much more competitiveness we want to bring, and more energy to the games,” McMann said.

“We’ll definitely have a response here and hopefully can get things rolling.”

Maple Leafs projected lineup Saturday in Nashville:

Knies – Matthews – Nylander
Robertson – Tavares – Cowan
Joshua – Roy – McMann
Maccelli – Laughton – Järnkrok

Rielly – Myers
McCabe – Stecher
Benoit – Ekman-Larsson

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