The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a familiar position as they take on the Boston Bruins in their first-round series of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They find themselves trailing by a 2-1 margin to their long-time rivals after dropping Game 3 at home on Wednesday night. Star forward William Nylander has been conspicuous by his absence in the first three games of the series. However, he practiced Friday with his teammates and could be back in the lineup for Saturday night's Game 4.

Nylander and the Leafs have not revealed the cause of his absence from the lineup after he played in all 82 regular-season games. However, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported the cause of Nylander's absence has been the onset of migraines. Neither the Leafs nor Nylander was willing to confirm that diagnosis.

Nylander has said that he is feeling better and that he's not worried about getting back into the series after missing the first three games. If he can line up Saturday, he said that he is confident in his abilities.

“I've been skating and everything; I'm fine,” said Nylander. “It is what it is. There's nothing to really stress about. You can't force yourself back into the game, so I'll be ready when I'm ready.”

Leafs have lacked consistency against the Bruins

Nylander has been a big part of the Toronto offense this season. Nylander was second on the team in scoring during the regular season, trailing only superstar Auston Matthews.

Nylander tallied 40 goals and 58 assists, and he has also been a major factor on both the power play and in short-handed situations. The right wing has scored 11 goals and handed out 24 assists when the Leafs had the man advantage, and he also has scored 3 goals and 1 assist while shorthanded.

The 27-year-old is a remarkable skater in addition to being a dangerous goal scoring force.

Perhaps the shock of playing without Nylander caught the team by surprise in the series opener. The Maple Leafs were a beat behind throughout the game and they dropped the opener by a 5-1 margin.

Toronto bounced back in Game 2 at the TD Garden, rallying for a 3-2 triumph when Matthews scored a spectacular goal in the third period and the Leafs came away with the victory.

That win appeared to give head coach Sheldon Keefe's team momentum in the series, but the Bruins would not allow the Leafs to retain it as the series moved to Toronto. The Bruins broke a 1-1 tie by outscoring the Maple Leafs 3-1 in the third period. Boston captain Brad Marchand keyed the surge as he scored two goals and assisted on Jake DeBrusk's power play goal.

Boston will try to take a significant 3-1 lead in the series. The Bruins have beaten the Maple Leafs in their last six playoff encounters. Toronto has not beaten Boston in the postseason since 1959.

The Maple Leafs will try to prevent Boston from winning Game 4, and they should have a much better chance of doing that if William Nylander is back in the lineup.