Trying to give Nylander a spark
With Hyman back and Andersen near return, focus falls on winger
Zach Hyman is back. Frederik Andersen should be right behind him, once the Leafs put their heads together.
“I feel good … but right now, we’re looking towards Saturday (against Boston), that’s the day I come back,” the Maple Leafs goaltender said after Wednesday’s practice.
“He’s not going to (play until) Colorado (on Monday),” head coach Mike Babcock said in the scrum that followed Andersen’s.
Babcock, of course, will have the final say when his starter returns from the groin injury he suffered before Christmas. And a couple more days won’t hurt Andersen, who has played more minutes the past two seasons than any other NHL goalie. He hasn’t had a break, outside of the annual all-star weekends, since joining the Leafs in 2016.
So everything points to Monday. And Babcock can turn his attention to other concerns, such as the power play and the play of William Nylander. The coach tinkered with his special teams Wednesday, putting Kasperi Kapanen on the first power-play unit and moving Auston Matthews to the second.
While the Leafs have struggled with the man advantage recently — they have not scored on the power play in 10 of their last12 games — part of the move was to hook up Matthews with Nylander as much as possible. The two showed good chemistry last season, when Nylander had 20 goals and 61 points, and Babcock is hoping the spark they had is rekindled.
Nylander, with a goal and two assists in 14 games, is facing a daily media group that is turning up the heat on his lack of production. It’s the white noise that comes with being a star athlete in a slump. But it is also a concern to a coach who needs one of his most skilled players to simply start scoring.
“You know, I only know one way, and that’s work,” Babcock said while discussing Nylander’s struggles. “Put your work boots on and get to work. When you work, and it goes well, you know its going well, and when it doesn’t go well, you know it too, so work.”
Babcock is also a firm believer in tuning out critics. “That’s what the country music channel and the hunting channel is for — Wild TV 393, I think it is, it’s dialed in, they never talk about hockey once. It’s unbelievable … beautiful animals, mountains, hiking, fishing, things of beauty,” he said.
Matthews said that, when he was in a slump last season, critics on social media chimed in with negative comments. Nylander says he doesn’t read or listen “to that stuff.”
“I just know what I’m capable of, and I know that’s going to come,” Nylander said. “Once the puck starts going in, it’s going to keep going in.”
Hyman, meanwhile, took up a spot on the wing with John Tavares and Mitch Marner, his linemates before he sprained an ankle eight games ago.
Toronto went 5-3 in his absence, but the noted grit and drive Hyman brings to the lineup was underlined when he was sidelined.
“There’s skill, and there’s different kinds of skill, and (Hyman) is tremendous,” Babcock said. “He plays heavy, he plays on the penalty kill, takes righthand-side faceoffs … all of that is important for us.”