William Nylander missed his first game due to injury since Nov. 27, 2016.
William Nylander missed his first game due to injury since Nov. 27, 2016.
BOSTON — When William Nylander wasn't present to take part in the Toronto Maple Leafs' first practice of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Friday, there was reason for concern.
The fear was realized on Saturday when Nylander was unable to take part in Toronto's 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins due to an undisclosed injury in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series at TD Garden.
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One of just two players to compete in all 82 regular season games last year, Nylander last missed a game due to injury on November 27, 2016. All other instances were due to illness or a load management of some type.
Nylander, who plays regularly on the team's top power play unit and took on an increased role on the penalty kill this season, was sorely missed as Toronto went 0-for-3 with the man-advantage while giving up two power-play goals.
"We've played with other guys at different times and we handled it very well. We didn't handle it very well tonight," Keefe said of Nylander's absence. "He's one guy that we haven't experienced playing without and we certainly missed him."
It's not clear exactly what Nylander's injury other than what TSN's Chris Johnston reported on Saturday that the forward woke up on Thursday with something that "popped up".
The Leafs played many games this season with other core players out of the lineup, including Mitch Marner, who missed a 12-game stretch due to an ankle injury and the club handled it well. Auston Matthews, only missed one game this season, but missed longer stretches previously in his career. Toronto weathered those absences without much difficulty.
"He's obviously a great player and a big part of our team," Matthews said of Nylander. "Even in situations where we had key players out throughout the season, it's just about other guys getting more opportunity and stepping up and making the most of it."
Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs, they weren't able to generate much offensively without him on Saturday. David Kampf was the lone goal scorer for Toronto.
Matthews certainly had one of Toronto's best chances. Down 1-0 in the second period, He outskated Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman to a loose puck and wired a shot at the empty-net chance that hit the post.
Shortly before that chance, Calle Jarnkrok, who returned from a hand injury for the first time in five weeks, squeaked a puck through Swayman, but it went wide of the net.
But now the issue is how long will Nylander be out? Based on what occurred in Game 1, the Leafs will hope he can come back sooner rather than later.
Nylander recorded back-to-back 40-goal seasons fo and is coming off a career-high 98 points. After a hot start to the season, the Leafs extended the Swede to an eight-year deal worth $92 million.
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