Maple Leafs Coach Speaks Out After William Nylander's 'Hard' Injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs opened Thursday night in Las Vegas with strong early momentum against the Vegas Golden Knights, building a two-goal lead five minutes into the game at T-Mobile Arena.

Toronto generated offense quickly and controlled play during the opening minutes, with star winger William Nylander contributing directly to those first two goals, assisting on the first and scoring the second one himself.

The Maple Leafs led 3–1 by the end of the first period before the game shifted over the final two frames, with Jack Eichel scoring the game-winning goal for Vegas 2:44 into overtime.

Nylander, meanwhile, exited the game late in the first period after injuring himself celebrating a goal and did not return. The Maple Leafs ruled him out during the first intermission, and coach Craig Berube confirmed the forward had aggravated a prior lower-body injury.

The news marks another setback after Nylander had recently returned from the same lower-body injury he suffered a few weeks ago.

After the loss, Berube addressed Nylander’s status and acknowledged the difficulty of losing the winger again so soon after his return.

“Lower body… Well, it’s hard,” Berube said. “He was back playing great, and now he is out again. We’ll see how long. I don’t know when it happened. It was early in the first period.”

Nylander entered the night leading Toronto in scoring and added to that production before leaving the game.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (88) warms up before an NHL game.Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

(Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images)

Through 37 games this season, Nylander has recorded 17 goals and 31 assists for 48 points. The 11-year veteran had just returned Saturday after missing six games with a lower-body injury.

Not only did Toronto lose Nylander, but the Maple Leafs also watched defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson go down and leave the game in the first period on Thursday. That said, the blueliner was able to return for the second frame.

The Toronto Maple Leafs fell to 23–16–8 with the overtime loss and dropped below the second wild-card spot, now trailing the Boston Bruins (56 points) by two points in the Eastern Conference wild-card race.

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Jan 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the NHL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Maple Leafs Coach Speaks Out After William Nylander’s ‘Hard’ Injury

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