After missing the first three games of his team's Eastern Conference first-round series against the Boston Bruins, all signs point to Toronto Maple Leafs superstar William Nylander returning to the lineup ahead of a crucial Game 4 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night, head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed.
“We are preparing for Willy to play at this point,” the bench boss said after the morning skate, per NHL.com's Dave McCarthy.
Nylander was active for the morning skate, and was also a full participant in practice on Friday after skating for most of the week. At practice, he was lined up with center Pontus Holmberg and winger Calle Jarnkrok, and he is likely to slot back on the top powerplay unit as well.
“I felt good,” Nylander told reporters on Friday, although he refused to specify the ailment that kept him out of Games 1-3. “I've been skating basically four or five days, I feel pretty good.”
Nylander didn't miss a single regular-season contest in 2023-24, amassing 40 goals and a career-high 98 points in the process. But the teams No. 2 scorer has been dearly missed in the series so far, especially as the Leafs have managed only six goals in the series.
The return of the skilled Swede should help to rectify that — and the club will need him to be effective if they hope to advance to Round 2 for the second straight year.
“The games are crazy to watch from home,” the 27-year-old continued. “I've never been so nervous in my life but I think the guys are doing a great job. Tomorrow is a big game. You've been through the entire season and to miss these first games in the playoffs is obviously tough. This is the time you want to play. Hopefully I'm back soon.”
Leafs are virtually in must-win territory in Game 4
After leading Game 3 at home but failing to close it out — largely due to a monster third period from Bruins captain Brad Marchand — the Leafs cannot afford to go back to Boston down 3-1.
With home-ice advantage snatched away, Saturday night's tilt should be considered a must-win for the Maple Leafs. And Keefe will be happy to get one of his best players back.
“He's a very important player for us in many regards,” Keefe said on Friday. “So getting him back would be important, but getting him to full health and making sure he's ready to step into a series of this caliber at this time of year is the next step.”
Although Toronto scored 298 goals in the regular-season — good enough for second in the NHL — this series has been a different story. The powerplay especially, which is 1-for-11 in the series, needs to improve if the squad hopes to find success.
“I think we’ve actually had a lot of chances to score,” Nylander said of the futile man advantage — he led the team with 35 power-play points during the regular-season. “They’ve been doing a good job, their goalie has been playing well, so we just have to try to create more rebounds and get pucks to the net. It’s an easy thing to say, but it works too.”
William Nylander, along with all of Toronto, will be fighting for their playoff lives when puck drops at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.
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