Star winger William Nylander has finally received some positive momentum in his return from injury, with head coach Sheldon Keefe telling The Athletic’s Luke Fox that Nylander will be a game-time decision ahead of Game Four (Twitter link). He has missed the first three games of the series with a migraine issue, though his exact diagnosis hasn’t been confirmed. When asked about it earlier, Nylander said, “Look, that’s just personal so I’m not going to get into that … but anything else you guys want to discuss [I’ll comment on].”
There’s no arguing that Toronto is simply better with Nylander in the lineup. The 27-year-old forward just wrapped up his second consecutive season with 40 goals and set a career-high 98 points along the way. He’s now missing his first games of the season, after playing in all 82 regular-season games for the second year in a row. Migraines have plagued Nylander for years now, even pushing him to switch to a tinted visor ahead of last season. He’s now overcoming those challenges once again and could be poised to make a big impact in a series that Toronto is trailing 2-1.
Other notes from Toronto:
- Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin welcomed the birth of his first daughter, and third child, on Friday morning. He traveled home to be with his wife during the process, missing Toronto’s Friday morning skate. Despite that, Keefe says he’ll still be an option in Saturday’s Game Three, shares the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan (Twitter link). Lyubushkin has so far appeared in all three games this series, recording one assist, one penalty, and one shot on net. He’s a part of a rotation of Leafs defensemen vying for a lineup spot, competing with Joel Edmundson, Simon Benoit, and Conor Timmins.
- Speaking of that competition, veteran T.J. Brodie is expected to step into the lineup over Timothy Liljegren, per Fox (Twitter link). Liljegren has yet to record a point through three playoff games, with his only stat change coming in the form of a -2. That’s despite averaging over 19 minutes of ice time through the start of the series. He’ll be replaced by Brodie, who’s managed 55 games of postseason experience over his 14-year NHL career. This includes 11 games with Toronto last season, with Brodie managing three assists, a -3, and 12 penalty minutes.
- Superstar Auston Matthews also missed the team’s Friday skate with an illness that NHL insider Chris Johnston says he played through on Wednesday (Twitter link). Per Johnston, Keefe dubbed Matthews’ absence as a maintenance day, and didn’t make it seem like the historic goal-scorer was at risk of missing time. Toronto will certainly hope that’s the case, as Matthews is currently tied for the team-lead in playoff scoring with three points in as many games. His scoring has been matched by linemate Max Domi.