NEW YORK. “Lill-Nyllet” is the biggest blue-yellow threat in the NHL.
As the first Swede this season, William Nylander broke the 30-goal barrier when Toronto swept Chicago 5-2 last night.
– He is hungry and even backchecks sometimes, jokes compatriot Rasmus Sandin, who also scored a goal.
The world didn’t have to wait very long to get the answer to the question of whether William Nylander would score his 30th goal of the season against Chicago at home at Scotiabank Arena.
Right after the first draw, nine seconds into the game, he received a perfect pass from Morgan Reilly, broke in between two Blackhawks defenders and angled in 1-0.
– It was a variant we had talked about just before the match. Glad it worked, says the 26-year-old Swede when he meets the media afterwards.
“Pure joy to play with him”
As with the quick finish – later supplemented with two assists – not only leads the Swedish shooting league. He is thus the first from the Kingdom to reach the milestone of 30 goals this year.
– It is a pure joy to play with him. He’s active all over the court and moves his feet and it’s been the same all season, says star Auston Matthews, back in the hot air after a three-week injury absence.
Praised by the Swede
Rasmus Sandin, who also had both a goal and an assist against the Hawks, agrees.
– “Wille” is hungry and works hard, even backchecking occasionally, he jokes.
– Well, he plays really good hockey and produces for us and is one of the team’s leaders. He has really stepped up.
“Lill-Nyllet” himself states that the icing on the cake was his father Michael – who never scored 30 goals during his active career – as a witness in the stands.
– Yes, he was watching my brother in the AHL’s All Star game and then came here and it’s always fun to have him here.
The Buffalo Sabers and the suddenly hot Detroit Red Wings made sure last night that the line battle in the Eastern Division became even tighter.
Buffalo beat Anaheim by a whopping 7-3 in Southern California, and Detroit secured its fourth straight by winning 5-4 away to Edmonton – after penalty shootout.
That means both are just four points up on Washington in the last wild card spot – with three games less played. Yes, even Florida and the New York Islanders are at the front of the line, but they have whole four games more played than the two challengers coming storming from behind.
– We got our rhythm and energy back. It was very nice to see, says Sabers coach Don Granato.
Rasmus Dahlin played to two goals and Mattias Samuelsson to one. In Edmonton, Oilers defender Philip Broberg accounted for the only Swedish point, in the form of an assist.
In the streak in St. Paul between Minnesota and Colorado, the home team battled valiantly for vital points, but were ultimately beaten 3-2.
Thus, the Wild slip below the mark, while the champions move up to third place in the Central standings.
– It feels heavy, we think we are playing well enough to win, but right now it is very difficult for us to get over a few points, sighs Mats Zuccarello.
Joel Eriksson Ek scored another goal – his 21st of the season – and Jonas Brodin had an assist.
The strangest match of the night was the one in the small Mullett Arena in Phoenix. There it was 0-0 between the Coyotes and the Tampa Bay Lightning after full time – and also after overtime. Then the home team won on penalties.
