Final evening, William Nylander had an amazing recreation within the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 5-4 extra time win in opposition to the Florida Panthers. Between his decided play and goalie Ilya Samsonov’s perfection in dealing with and stopping the 11 pictures on his internet, each performed key roles within the staff’s victory.
William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)Samsonov relieved a struggling Matt Murray, who had given up 4 targets on solely eight pictures. His play allowed his staff to come back again to revive a tie rating after which the extra time game-winning objective scored by, you understand who, Nylander.
Nylander Scored Two Targets within the Workforce’s VictoryNylander scored two even-strength targets, together with the extra time winner. He additionally added a power-play help. He received credit score for the game-tying objective early within the third interval after a Mitch Marner shot bounced off Sergei Bobrovsky’s pad, off Nylander’s helmet, and over the Panthers’ goalie into the online.
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Chalk that as much as good karma after Nylander had flubbed a penalty shot no more than 5 minutes earlier. Nonetheless, his extra time winner was not a fluke. In one among his patented strikes — followers noticed virtually the identical objective on Dec. 27 in the course of the extra time in opposition to the St. Louis Blues — Nylander started a rush at his personal blue line. Then, he turned on his velocity to beat all three Panthers’ defenders. Lastly, he snuck the puck contained in the put up after beating Bobrovsky with a faux. Maybe the Panthers’ goalie had been watching movie as a result of Nylander had gone backhand in opposition to Jordan Binnington to win the Blues’ recreation.
Nylander’s Been Feast and Famine on the Scoresheet RecentlyIt’s price noting that Nylander has been up and down on the scoresheet; nevertheless, on the entire, he’s had an amazingly strong season. Nonetheless, he’s been inconsistent in his current video games. Over his final 10 video games, he’s hit the scoresheet solely 4 occasions. Nonetheless, in all 4 video games, he registered multiple-point performances.
Newest Information & HighlightsOver that 10-game stretch, he’s scored three targets and added seven assists (for 10 factors). That’s a strong point-per-game efficiency and, on the season, Nylander has now totalled 50 factors in 45 video games. He’s making a huge impact within the video games the place he scores.
Nylander’s Play Has Been Essential to Maple Leafs Wins This SeasonA variety of Nylander’s performances have been game-changers, which was the case final evening. In brief, with out his exploits there would have been no Maple Leafs’ comeback victory. Scoring his twenty fourth objective of the season is a testomony to his offensive capacity and the truth that, even when he doesn’t hit the scoresheet, he’s given nice effort all season lengthy.
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Actually, that’s precisely what Maple Leafs’ head coach Sheldon Keefe mentioned after the sport when he met with the media. His remark about his staff’s 5-4 win over the Panthers was that Nylander “was the difference-maker for us, and that’s extra the participant he’s been for us all season.”
After Nylander’s Profession Season (Thus Far), Now What?Nylander had an amazing recreation final evening by scoring the game-winning objective in extra time, but additionally by tying the sport with the third interval’s solely objective. He additionally assisted on Auston Matthews’ power-play objective. His targets had been keys to the Maple Leafs’ comeback victory.
William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)However that needs to be no shock. Nylander has been persistently good this season and his efficiency on this recreation is only one instance of that consistency. He’s been engaged each recreation, he’s been decided, and he has carried the offence. Recreation in and recreation out, he’s serving to his staff win.
He’s a invaluable participant on this staff and would possibly now really be hitting his prime. It’s clear that he’s turning into an elite participant and is setting himself other than different good gamers.
What Does That Imply for Nylander’s Subsequent Contract?Prior to now, numerous Maple Leafs followers wished Nylander traded. There are most likely some who imagine he’ll revert to what they suppose are his previous “lazy” tendencies. However the Maple Leafs as a company will disagree.
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Nylander’s contract expires after the 2023-24 season. Given his performances this season, the query stays about what sort of contract his play will encourage in the course of the 2024 offseason. Clearly, that’s a great distance off and far can occur between at times.
Toronto Maple Leafs Morgan Rielly celebrates with teammate William Nylander. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Hans Deryk)However the query is an attention-grabbing one. Ought to he proceed the constructive profession trajectory he’s at present on, his contract will doubtless be a giant one. And, it’s one he deserves given his elite play. Nonetheless, that’s a query that Nylander and the group will sit down to debate in about 16 months.
The Outdated Prof (Jim Parsons, Sr.) taught for greater than 40 years within the School of Schooling on the College of Alberta. He’s a Canadian boy, who has two levels from the College of Kentucky and a doctorate from the College of Texas. He’s now retired on Vancouver Island, the place he lives together with his household. His hobbies embrace taking part in together with his hockey playing cards and easily being a sports activities fan – hockey, the Toronto Raptors, and CFL soccer (thinks Ricky Ray personifies how knowledgeable athlete ought to act).
For those who surprise why he doesn’t use his actual identify, it’s as a result of his son – who’s additionally Jim Parsons – wrote for The Hockey Writers first and requested Jim Sr. to make use of one other identify so readers wouldn’t confuse their work.
As a result of Jim Sr. had labored in China, he adopted the Mandarin phrase for instructor (老師). The primary character lǎo (老) means “outdated,” and the second character shī (師) means “instructor.” The literal translation of lǎoshī is “outdated instructor.” That grew to become his pen identify. At present, apart from writing for The Hockey Writers, he teaches graduate college students analysis design at a number of Canadian universities.
He seems to be ahead to sharing his insights concerning the Toronto Maple Leafs and about how sports activities engages life extra totally. His Twitter handle is https://twitter.com/TheOldProf
The post William Nylander’s Success Means Unclear Future in Toronto first appeared on Raw News.
