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BOSTON — Maple Leafs forward William Nylander will miss Game 2 of Toronto’s first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Bruins on Monday with an undisclosed injury.

He also sat out Saturday’s Game 1 — a 5-1 Toronto loss — because of the same ailment. While Toronto hasn’t revealed what Nylander is dealing with, it’s reported to have flared up for the winger sometime after the Leafs’ regular-season finale Wednesday.

Toronto remained hopeful Nylander could return Monday, though. He participated in the team’s full morning skate at TD Garden prior to Game 2 — albeit without taking line rushes or joining special teams drills — and coach Sheldon Keefe said afterward, “We’ll see how he feels here the rest of the day and make a decision from there.”

This is the first stretch of games Nylander has missed because of an injury since the 2016-17 season. He is the only Toronto player to have appeared in all 82 games this regular season, and the season was one of his best — Nylander posted a career-high 98 points and a fourth consecutive 40-goal effort.

He also has been one of their most consistent playoff performers and helped Toronto advance to the second round for the first time in two decades with four goals and 10 points in 11 postseason tilts.

Now the Leafs will once again turn to rookie Nick Robertson as Nylander’s replacement in the lineup. Robertson, 22, took over a third-line spot in Saturday’s loss, for his first NHL postseason action since 2020. Toronto also will stick with the same defensive group following Saturday’s lopsided result, leaving veteran TJ Brodie on the outside looking in.

Boston, on the other hand, did make a change, starting Linus Ullmark over Jeremy Swayman. The Bruins topped the Leafs in large part Saturday because of how well Swayman performed making 35 saves in the Bruins’ win. Coach Jim Montgomery still would not commit to Swayman before Game 2 and said his club would be “confident” going with Ullmark, keeping alive the goalie rotation Boston has been using since February.

The Bruins go into Monday’s game having won five straight games over the Leafs, without trailing in any of those outings.

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Foligno takes puck off hand, will miss 4 weeks

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Foligno takes puck off hand, will miss 4 weeks

Chicago Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno will miss four weeks after injuring his hand Saturday in his team’s 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, coach Jeff Blashill said.

Foligno, 38, suffered the injury with 90 seconds left in the second period when he was skating near the top of the Blackhawks’ defensive zone and Jake McCabe‘s shot on net deflected off Foligno’s hand.

Foligno immediately hunched over and favored his hand while skating back to the Blackhawks’ bench. Foligno, who did not return for the third period, finished with three shots on goal and logged 10:41 in ice time.

The absence of Foligno, who has six points in 15 games, means the Blackhawks will be without their fourth-line center who was anchoring a combination featuring Sam Lafferty and Landon Slaggert. His injury is also the second to impact the Blackhawks’ forward group with winger Jason Dickinson currently on injured reserve.

After finishing last season with the second-fewest points in the NHL, the Blackhawks (9-5-4) have emerged into one of the biggest surprises through the first quarter of the regular season. With their win against the Maple Leafs, they enter Sunday third in the Central Division and a point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken in the Western Conference wild-card race.

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Devils’ Hughes out 8 weeks after finger surgery

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Devils' Hughes out 8 weeks after finger surgery

New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes had successful surgery on his finger Saturday, the team announced. The expected recovery time is eight weeks, though he will be reevaluated in six weeks.

According to sources, Hughes injured his hand in a “freak accident” that involved getting cut by glass at a team dinner Thursday.

Hughes’ procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Hotchkiss at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

The 24-year-old was off to a terrific start for New Jersey, which is 12-4-1 and atop the Metropolitan Division entering Friday. The American-born star has 10 goals and 20 points in his first 17 games.

The injury will create an interesting predicament for Team USA ahead of the 2026 Olympics in Milan. Hughes’ brother, Quinn, has already been named to the team while the Devils star was expected to be a front-runner for the roster. Federations must submit rosters by Dec. 31. The Devils’ projected return-to-play timeline is around the second week of January. The Olympic men’s hockey tournament begins Feb. 11.

Olympic rosters feature 25 players, which is two more spots than teams had at Four Nations.

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Canucks sign ex-Leaf Kampf to one-year deal

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Canucks sign ex-Leaf Kampf to one-year deal

Center David Kampf signed a one-year contract with the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, just a day after the Toronto Maple Leafs terminated his previous deal.

Kampf, whose deal with the Canucks will carry a $1.1 million cap hit, was entering the third year of his four-year contract with the Maple Leafs that was worth $2.4 million annually.

The Leafs waived Kampf before the season, and he began the year with their AHL affiliate. Kampf played four games in the AHL before taking a voluntary leave of absence, which wasn’t sanctioned by the Leafs, to evaluate his options.

Kampf, who scored 5 goals and 13 points in 59 games last season, gives the Canucks a two-way center who has logged more than 110 short-handed minutes in seven straight seasons.

The Canucks have faced defensive challenges under first-year coach Adam Foote, who already has had to navigate injuries to Filip Chytil, Thatcher Demko, Derek Forbort, Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes, among others.

Entering Saturday, the Canucks were allowing 3.53 goals per game, which is the fifth most in the NHL, while their penalty kill is the worst in the league at 66.1%. The Los Angeles Kings set the NHL record for the worst penalty kill in league history with a 68.2% success rate in the 1979-80 campaign.

Kampf also provides a veteran presence at center for the Canucks, who entered the season with questions at the position. Those concerns have intensified with Teddy Blueger and Chytil on injured reserve.

Entering Saturday, the Canucks (8-9-2) had the second-fewest points in the Pacific Division but were two points behind the Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets for Western Conference wild-card spots.

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