The fluid winger, one of the hottest Leafs in a week the team missed injured sniper Auston Matthews, was asked Tuesday night about his career high 32 goals in the wake of being taken off the second line.
“I actually took two games from the first 45 (earlier in the season) and randomly watched them,” said Nylander, “Then I saw two in the later half and saw the differences. It was about skating more and stuff like that. I put more focus into that and in all situations, It was a little bit turned off than in my first four or five years.
“I was pissed. I wanted to get back to the way I could play.”
Nylander is not usually so forthcoming about his deficiencies. When at first he didn’t produce goals in line with his new $6.9 million US salary, he was criticized in some circles as soft or lazy. Then he became an integral right winger for John Tavares on the second line and when that went cold for a bit, he became part of a multi-threat unit with Pierre Engvall and David Kampf.
