TORONTO — William Nylander isn’t accustomed to watching Toronto Maple Leafs hockey games from the safety of a television screen.
Much like the club’s fans — who have already been whisked on an emotional ride through this back-and-forth series, now a 2-1 lead for the Boston Bruins — the 40-goal-scorer has felt his heart quicken while taking in the action from afar, the scoring chances he has no say in, the hits he can see coming but can’t dodge for the boys.
“I don’t like it,” Nylander said Friday, speaking publicly for the first time since missing a week’s action with severe migraines.
“I mean, the games are crazy to watch from home. I’ve never been so nervous in my life.”
Nylander was the only Leaf to play all 82 regular-season games, and his attendance had been perfect through his first seven NHL post-seasons.
“Obviously tough,” he said. “I want to play.”
As with anyone employed by the Maple Leafs, Nylander declined to detail his health issues — “Look, that’s just personal, so I’m not going to get into that,” he said, “but anything else you guys want to discuss” — and he refrained from confirming his participation in Game 4.
Yet all signs point toward Nylander making his series debut, and the Leafs receiving an offensive and emotional jolt, on Saturday.
And the Leafs seldom make an injured player available to reporters unless he’s ready to go.
The winger has been skating all week. He was a full participant in Friday’s up-tempo practice, taking reps on an all-Swede line with Pontus Holmberg and Calle Järnkrok, and jumped onto the struggling top power-play unit, which has converted just once in its 11 attempts this post-season.
Unlike some of his early-week test drives, Nylander was scoring and creating with ease on Friday. In short, he looks like a man ready to play a hockey game.
“Looked great to me on the ice,” coach Sheldon Keefe said.
Of course, because of the nature of head ailments, the club and the player will wait to see how he feels Saturday morning.
“It is what it is. There’s nothing to really stress about. You can’t force yourself back in, so I’ll be ready when I’m ready,” Nylander said.
The greatest challenge of hopping into a physical, airtight playoff series that’s already zooming?
“Nothing,” Nylander replied.
Sounds like himself.
Nylander’s return will tweak a bottom six that Keefe has generally been pleased with.
Based on Friday’s rushes, Connor Dewar appears to be the odd forward out in Game 4, a difficult decision considering the effectiveness of the checking line and Dewar’s usefulness on a struggling penalty kill. But with the Leafs desperate for offence, Nick Robertson is a strong candidate to drop stick in the lineup.
All that is secondary to injecting 40 goals and 96 points into a roster that has scored just six goals all series.
“One of the top wingers in the game,” Leafs captain John Tavares said. “He’s one of the league’s great game-breakers, and we’ve seen it throughout his time here. Obviously, it’d be a huge boost.”
Tavares is the rare Maple Leaf who can relate to what his friend has been dealing with.
The captain missed the majority of 2021’s first-round series to the Montreal Canadiens with a concussion (and a knee injury) — an absence that contributed greatly to Toronto’s loss and left the player feeling helpless.
“Yeah, it’s hard. You don’t have any influence on the game,” Tavares explained. “It’s as much a team sport as any major professional sport, so you always want to go out there and play and compete, especially [considering]the grind and the battles you go through all year long. You have the opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup, that’s want to do — especially with your teammates, the type of brotherhood you create.”
So, while Nylander downplays the stress, Tavares can imagine what his teammate has endured these past eight days of uncertainty and inactivity.
“Extremely difficult,” Tavares said. “He loves to play, loves to compete and wants to be out there with the group and make a difference. Very driven player and obviously very talented. Works very hard at his game. So, yeah, not easy.”
Well, the idea of solving a zoned-in Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, digging out of a special-teams funk, and rallying to win the series should get a little easier with Nylander on board Saturday.
The fans will still be nervous, sure, but Nylander should return to a place where he’s much more comfortable.
One-Timers: Auston Matthews played through illness in Game 3 and took an extra maintenance day Friday. He has only participated in games this week and is recovering from what we’re told is a case of food poisoning. The Leafs are giving him time to restore his energy. “Just want to make sure, as a coaching staff and a medical staff, you’re giving him the opportunity to be at his best,” Keefe says. … Defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin was absent from practice because his wife, Diana, gave birth to a baby girl, the couple’s third child, in California. He was flying back to Toronto on Friday and will be available to play. … Defenceman Timothy Liljegren appears to be the odd man out, with veteran T.J. Brodie looking to make his series debut in Game 4.
Maple Leafs projected Game 4 lines in Toronto:
Bertuzzi – Matthews – Domi
Knies – Tavares – Marner
Nylander – Holmberg – Järnkrok
Robertson – Kämpf – Reaves
Rielly – Lyubushkin
Benoit – McCabe
Edmundson – Brodie
Samsonov starts
Woll
