William Nylander is still questionable for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference. They play the first round against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Monday due to an undisclosed injury.
The forward participated in the morning skate Monday after missing Game 1 of the best-of-7 series Saturday, a 5-1 defeat. Despite joining the team on the ice Monday, Nylander did not show up for in-line rushes. He also stayed on for extra skating with projected scratches.
However, head coach Sheldon Keefe did not completely discard the possibility of Nylander returning for Game 2.
“It’s great to see him with the group,” Keefe said after the skate. “He looks good out there. … We’ll see how he feels the rest of the day here and make a decision.”
Nylander did not participate in special-teams drills; the team promoted Tyler Bertuzzi to the top power-play unit, while forward Calle Jarnkrok moved to the second unit. The Maple Leafs went 0-for-3 with the man advantage Saturday, and David Kampf scored the only goal.
William played all 82 matches in the regular season. He finished with an NHL career-high 98 points (40 goals, 58 assists), 10th in the League. The team missed his offensive prowess in Game 1, but they got motivated seeing him on the ice on Monday.
“A good sign,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares said. “We know what he means to our hockey club, so great that he was out there.”
After Game 1, Keefe and other players mentioned how Toronto powered through key absences during the regular season, and will have to do the same in Game 2 if Nylander is absent.
“They’re taking care of him, so it’s [only] a matter of time until he’s back in the lineup,” Maple Leafs forward Nicholas Robertson said. “We’ve got to do what we can without him and hopefully get a win tonight.”
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