Leafs concede Greig’s great at agitating, but must ignore him in Game 3

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In another time, on another team, Craig Berube might appreciate having a disruptor such as Ridly Greig on his bench.

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“He’s a good player, a competitor, a lot of good hockey traits,” the Maple Leafs coach observed.

But Greig can’t be allowed to become a distraction against Toronto when this series shifts to Ottawa on Thursday, and the home crowd will be no doubt be egging him on to get in Anthony Stolarz’s kitchen.

That’s why Berube was glad Stolarz dealt with the Greig matter himself in Game 2. With the winger infringing in the blue paint, Stolarz delivered two stick-shaft/blocker blows to the back of Greig’s head, then cracked his blade hard above the knee pad.

It was also retaliation for Game 1’s rogue slide into the crease that briefly shook up Stolarz.

For good measure on Tuesday, the 6-foot-6 Leafs stopper leaned a shoulder in as Greig skated by, knocking him into the net.

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Stolarz then skated away, each man accepted his minor penalty and the game resumed. Stolarz then had a friendly chat with referee Gord Dwyer, presumably about bringing the temperature down a bit.

“(Greig) is going to do what he does,” Berube said Wednesday before the Leafs flew to Ottawa. “You have to play him hard. You can’t retaliate, but you have to protect (Stolarz’s turf) and we have to protect our goalie, not allow people to come in and get involved with him.”

Emboldened by a Game 1 goal, Greig could be a new version of Steve Webb, the New York Islanders miscreant who threw the 2002 Leafs off their game plan in a seven-game quarterfinal opener. It was won by the Leafs in part because Webb couldn’t sustain his act on the road.

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That was also the most recent series in which the Leafs led 2-0, so expect Greig, Brady Tkachuk and the Sens to be pushing the envelope to not fall behind 0-3. They hope to galvanize their fans in what is often a split base at the Canadian Tire Centre.

“Tempers flare in playoff hockey and that stuff is going to happen,” Leafs winger Steven Lorentz said of Stolarz-Greig. “We’re not going to go too much into that. It’s just two passionate guys. They each got their two minutes and it’s done.

“(Stolarz) doesn’t usually let that get the best of him and it didn’t. He was just standing up for himself. We have his back. I’m sure that’s not the only case in the NHL playoffs of something like that going down.”

Both Ridly and Tkachuk have scored and now the Sens have put Nick Cousins back in on their fourth line, the guy who scored for Florida in overtime to eliminate the Leafs in the 2023 second round. He’s joined by Adam Gaudette and Fabian Zetterlund.

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Gaudette has been into it with Toronto captain Auston Matthews and when Greig got too up close and personal with the Leafs bench on Tuesday, someone grabbed Greig’s stick and Matthews made a point of snapping it in two before it was returned.

“That’s playoff hockey,” said defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. “Everybody’s trying whatever they can do to get under the skin.”

Berube will not have last line change in Ottawa, which makes attention to detail all the more important. He put Matthews’ line out to start Game 1 while the fourth line of Lorentz, Scott Laughton and Calle Jarnkrok got the grittier Game 2 start.

“He (Sens coach Travis Green) was trying to get his matchups here as well, doing different things and changing guys on the fly,” Berube said. “That’s all part of the cat and mouse game.

“We’re just going to go and play, business as usual. If we can’t get matchups, we have guys capable of doing the job.”

Third-liners Max Domi and Bobby McMann have already played higher in the order against top lines, as have Laughton and Jarnkrok.

lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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