Nylander ready to roll versus Rangers

The New York Rangers (optional) and Toronto Maple Leafs skated at Madison Square Garden on Friday.

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William Nylander is downplaying concern after an undisclosed issue forced him to remain on the bench during overtime on Tuesday night in Boston.

"I just felt that I couldn't go and perform to my best in that moment in the game," the winger said. "So, yeah, it was tough. Tough to feel like that, but it's all good."

Nylander had his glove off and seemed to be looking at his hand or wrist on the bench. He insists the ailment will not be an issue on Friday when the Leafs face the New York Rangers.

"I'm fine," he said after participating fully in the team's morning skate. "I'm fine."

Head coach Craig Berube believes Nylander is now back to 100 per cent.

"It's business as usual," Berube stressed. "He feels good."

Nylander has produced three assists in three games since the 4 Nations Face-Off, but has landed just four shots on net.

"I felt pretty good, to be honest," he said. "I was lucky enough to get some days [off] there in between our win against USA [and the resumption of the regular season] so that was nice."

Nylander was given Wednesday's practice off to catch up on some rest and Thursday was a day off for the Leafs in New York City. How did he spend it?

"Ah, shopping, sushi," he revealed with a smile. "A little sauna and then cold tubs, and more sushi, actually, for dinner. It was crazy."

Nylander has been feasting on opposing goalies this season. He leads the Leafs with 33 goals, which is tied for second in the league.

"The way he's been for the past couple years has been unbelievable," said Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad. "It's been fun to follow. It's been fun to watch. I mean, the sky's the limit for him. I don't think he's hit his potential yet and that says a lot."

Zibanejad and Nylander played on the same line while with Team Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

"He thinks a lot about the way other teams play and trying to break them down in that way," Nylander said.

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Auston Matthews also got Wednesday's practice off.

"I feel fine," said the centre, who has gone 12 games, including three at the 4 Nations Face-Off, without a 5-on-5 goal. "Getting looks. Obviously a couple posts, it could be frustrating at times, but we're playing well."

Matthews potted an empty-net goal on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes, but hasn't scored on a goalie since Jan. 22. He does have 12 assists in this snakebitten stretch.

"I mean, it's fine," he said. "Like, we're winning games. We're getting the opportunities and that's all you can ask for. One's going to go in and everything will just kind of settle down."

Berube pointed out that Matthews struck iron twice on Tuesday in Boston where the Leafs captain assisted on the overtime winner by Mitch Marner.

"The chances are there," Berube noted. "You gotta focus on the positives. Yeah, could he get to the net maybe and score some dirty goals, that's an option for sure and an idea. When things aren't going in the net sometimes you have to get a greasy goal here and there, but it's not from a lack of chances."

Berube has continually praised Matthews' two-way game.

"He just needs to continue to do that," the coach instructed.

Matthews scored twice during his last visit to Madison Square Garden on Dec. 12, 2023.

"Special atmosphere, special building," the Arizona native said. "It's always a fun game. New York's a great city. It's definitely one of my favourite places to play."

And Matthews has had success against Rangers starter Igor Shesterkin. He beat the Vezina Trophy winner for a goal earlier this season (Oct. 19) and has scored seven goals in 10 games against him.

"He’s just never out of it," Matthews said. "You think you might have him, but he’s so athletic. He might not be the biggest guy, but he’s got great angles. He’s extremely athletic and anticipates the play and the pucks very well. It’s always a challenge. I feel like we’ve kind of gone back and forth throughout the years, but he’s definitely one of the top goalies in the game, in my opinion."

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Veteran tough guy Ryan Reaves will dress for the first time since Feb. 4 as Berube seeks to counter the physical presence provided by the 6-foot-9 Matt Rempe on New York's fourth line.

"He’s an effective player," Berube said of Rempe. "He’s physical. He’s a hard guy to handle, so I just wanted to get Reavo in there ... Reavo in the lineup maybe deters him being as physical as he has been."

Reaves and Rempe did not drop the gloves back in October, but they did go toe-to-toe in a highly anticipated bout last March in their first game against each other. What does Reaves remember?

"Just how tall he was," the 38-year-old said. "You hear how tall somebody is and then when you get up in front of him, he looks a little taller than I was imagining, but nothing that I’ve never fought before."

The pair of heavyweights exchanged friendly words in the penalty box.

"He said a couple nice things to me," the 22-year-old Rempe told TSN on Friday morning. "He’s obviously one of the toughest there is ... It was a pretty cool day, but now just trying to grow my game and play hockey and stuff like that."

Rempe is coming off one of his best games in the NHL. He scored a goal, his second in 23 games this season, and finished plus-three during Tuesday's win over the New York Islanders.

Reaves, meanwhile, is looking to earn more playing time moving forward. And the ex-Ranger relishes the chance to play inside Madison Square Garden.

"There’s always a good buzz here when there’s fights," he said. "The crowd seems to really like that. They get up and you can feel the energy when there’s a fight here. That was always a fun part."

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The Leafs will be playing without Chris Tanev after the defenceman sustained an upper-body injury in Tuesday's game. The mere fact Tanev left the game in the first period and could not return was notable.

"He’s a tough customer," said Matthews. "Every game he blocks a shot, and you think, like, that possibly can’t feel good, something’s gotta be broken or whatever, but he just competes. Unfortunately, the other night, he’s at a point where he can’t play now. He’s such a big part of this team on the back end, the role that he plays and the minutes that he eats up against other team’s top players and top lines. We’ve dealt with injuries throughout the year. It’s just an opportunity for other guys to step up and fill that void with more opportunity and we’ll all have to be better around it."

Philippe Myers will take Tanev's spot beside Jake McCabe, which will allow the Leafs to keep the other two pairs – Morgan Rielly with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Simon Benoit with Conor Timmins – together.  

"I didn’t want to split up the other two pairs," Berube explained. "They have been playing together for a bit."

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Rangers forward J.T. Miller is a game-time decision due to an illness.

Matthews played with Miller at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

"One of the more popular guys on the team, definitely," said Matthews, who served as Team USA's captain. "He’s a competitor. He’s a guy that you love to have on your team and I really enjoyed spending time with him and playing with him. He’s an extremely high IQ, smart player. A guy that you love to have on your team especially come playoff time."

Miller has produced nine points in eight games since being traded to the Rangers by the Vancouver Canucks.

"I think he is a guy who plays the game the right way,” said Rangers coach Peter Laviolette. "He takes 35-second shifts, 45-second shifts and he plays them hard. He drives the net; he stops in down-low coverage. All the little things you want from a player. He competes hard in the battles. When someone pushes him hard in the battles, he pushes them back. There is something that draws you in about a player like that. It’s like an honestly and a hardness that you like about his game."

Miller missed Thursday's practice, but skated briefly on Friday morning.

K'Andre Miller is also considered a game-time decision after sustaining a lower-body injury in Tuesday's game although the defenceman practised Thursday and skated again on Friday morning.

Forward Chris Kreider is expected to miss a third straight game due to an upper-body injury.

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With Joseph Woll feeling a bit under the weather, Anthony Stolarz will start again for the Leafs. The Leafs had been rotating between the two goalies since Stolarz returned from a knee injury right before the break.

"Going into the playoffs, there is normally one guy who is going to take control of it," Berube said. "Sometimes, you have to make switches, which I have done in the past. I remember I started [Ville] Husso against Minnesota in the playoffs [with St. Louis]. I thought he was the better goalie down the stretch. He played the first two games. And then [Jordan] Binnington came in, and we won the series. Binnington played until he got hurt against Colorado and played extremely well. He got hurt, so Husso had to go in. There are always things you are going to have to change, but going into the playoffs, you want one guy to be ready to take it."

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Berube, who coached in St. Louis from 2017 to 2023, reached out to Brayden Schenn to congratulate the Blues captain for playing his 1,000th game on Thursday night.

"I love that player," said Berube, who coached Schenn and the Blues to the 2019 Stanley Cup title. "I love the guy. He is a super human being and 1,000 games is a lot of games in the league. He is a dedicated player. Guys who can play that long are dedicated to the game. They do all of the right things throughout the summer, game in and game out, preparing. He is a very prepared player, but he looks after his body, and he looks after himself. He loves the game. He is a hockey nerd. It was great to see him reach 1,000 games. Very happy for him."

Schenn is No. 4 on TSN's latest trade bait list. The deadline is one week away.

Berube and general manager Brad Treliving are constantly talking about what the team should do.

"We are communicating about that daily — the rosters, the players, what we could use, and what would help us," Berube said.

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Lines at Leafs skate on Friday:

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Holmberg - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Domi - Robertson
Lorentz - Kampf - Reaves
Pacioretty, Dewar, Jarnkrok, Steeves

Rielly - Ekman-Larsson
McCabe - Myers
Benoit - Timmins
Rifai

Stolarz
Woll