Nylander expected to play for Maple Leafs in Game 4

TORONTO -- William Nylander is expected to make his series debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, NESN, TBS, truTV, MAX).

Nylander took part in the morning skate Saturday and was a full participant in practice on Friday.

"We are preparing for Willy to play at this point," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said Saturday.

Nylander is expected to skate at left wing on a line with center Pontus Holmberg and right wing Calle Jarnkrok, and could play on the top power-play unit.

"I felt good," Nylander said Friday. "I've been skating basically four or five days, I feel pretty good."

After playing in all 82 regular season games, finishing second to center Auston Matthews among Maple Leafs scorers with 98 points (40 goals, 58 assists), Nylander has missed each of the first three playoff games with an undisclosed issue he declined to comment on.

The Maple Leafs trail the best-of-7 series 2-1 following a 4-2 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday.

"The games are crazy to watch from home," Nylander said. "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."

Getting Nylander back in the lineup will be a welcome addition for Toronto, which has struggled to produce offense consistently in the postseason. The Maple Leafs, who finished second in the NHL with 298 goals during the regular season, have scored more than two goals only once in their past 10 playoff games, dating to Game 5 of the 2023 Eastern Conference First Round against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"He's a very important player for us in many regards," Keefe said 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."

Toronto's power play, which ranked seventh in the NHL during the regular season (24.0 percent), has has scored one goal on 11 opportunities (9.1 percent) in three games against Boston.

Nylander led Toronto with 35 power-play points during the regular season, including 11 goals.

"I think we’ve actually had a lot of chances to score," Nylander said. "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."

Matthews, who did not take the morning skate prior to Game 3, also did not practice Friday because of maintenance but will play.

He had 23:16 of ice time in Game 3, most among Maple Leafs forwards, with three shots. The NHL leader in goals during the regular season with a League career high 69, he did not score for the second time in three games but his eight hits tied forward Ryan Reaves for the Toronto lead.

“I just know Auston is going to give us everything that he has and I would say the same about his game the other night (Game 3)," Keefe said. "To me he played extremely hard and had a couple chances that could have fallen his way but didn’t ... it might have been his most physical game of the series.

"He felt he didn’t have it in other ways and was trying to impact the game in different spots. Like he’s shown with the way he played in Game 2 (one goal, two assists in a 3-2 win) in an important game for us and really how he’s played all season for us, he’s given us everything he has."