Not only did the Toronto Maple Leafs lose their lead late in regulation and ultimately fall by a 6-5 final score against Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday evening, but they also once again lost one of their top players to injury.
Maple Leafs forward William Nylander, who had just returned to the lineup after missing six games with a lower-body injury, experienced a setback during the game’s opening 20 minutes of play at T-Mobile Arena and departed.
It wouldn’t be long before the Maple Leafs would rule him out for the rest of the contest, which ended in a disappointing loss.
Afterward, head coach Craig Berube confirmed that Nylander re-aggravated the injury that he initially suffered on December 17 against the Ottawa Senators, which initially caused his earlier stint on Injured Reserve.
“Lower body,” Berube said of Nylander. “It is hard. He was back playing great, and now he is out again. We’ll see how long.”
However, he wasn’t able to point to any specific instance that caused Nylander’s injury.
“I don’t know when it happened,” he said. “It was early in the first period.”
Not only is it the second injury inside of a month for Nylander, but he’s also the latest major name on the Maple Leafs to miss time because of an ailment; that list also includes names like Auston Matthews, Chris Tanev, and Anthony Stolarz.
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Toronto Maple Leafs Forward William Nylander Had Just Returned From Missing Six Games
As stated earlier, Nylander had just recently returned to the Maple Leafs lineup after having missed six games because of a lower-body injury he suffered in mid-December.
He’d already made his presence felt in a big way for the Leafs against Marner and the Golden Knights, assisting on Morgan Rielly’s goal and then later scoring himself, helping Toronto take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
However, Nylander would depart during the opening frame and was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the contest, which Vegas ultimately prevailed in by a 6-5 final score in overtime.
Nylander’s goal was his 17th of the season, during which he’s also contributed 31 assists for 48 total points, good for first overall in total Leafs scoring.
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The Maple Leafs Couldn’t Finish Off The Golden Knights Despite Separate Two-Goal Leads
Despite twice enjoying a two-goal lead, the Maple Leafs were unable to put the Golden Knights away.
As Berube would explain, it was largely thanks to careless penalty trouble during the third period.
“Just a couple of mistakes in the third period,” Berube explained. “We take a penalty (Easton Cowan for hooking), no need for that penalty, and they scored again. They pull the goalie and we have a broken stick (Matthew Knies) and we can’t cover everybody. Seven seconds left. We didn’t finish them off.”
“It’s frustrating to lose this game. We got off to a great start, played really well for the most part. We’ve just got to be smarter in certain situations.”
Maple Leafs Confirm Worrying Update On William Nylander