William Nylander finally made his return to the Toronto Maple Leafs' lineup on Thursday, but it wasn't the game he would have wanted.
Nylander's season debut after a protracted contract standoff came in game No. 29 for the Leafs, which could have been seen as an omen as the fourth-year winger wears No. 29 on his jersey. However, Toronto fell 5-4 in overtime to the visiting Detroit Red Wings with Nylander largely ineffective in 12:48 of ice time.
The William Nylander story: A timeline from NHL draft to Maple Leafs' new $45M man
Nylander started the game on a line with Auston Matthews and Patrick Marleau, garnering a round of applause from the fans at Scotiabank Arena when he stepped onto the ice for his first shift early in the opening period.
Unfortunately for the 22-year-old, his lack of playing time in the lead-up to Thursday's contest showed on multiple occasions. Nylander appeared out of sync with his teammates and off the pace of the game at times, and when the Leafs found themselves down 4-1 to start the third period, head coach Mike Babcock elected to re-allocate the Swede to a different line.
Mike Babcock has reached for the blender.
— Dave McCarthy (@DaveAMcCarthy) December 7, 2018
Johnsson - MATTHEWS - Kapanen
Marleau - KADRI - Nylander#LeafsForever #LGRW #NHL
Toronto mounted a frenzied comeback after Babcock shuffled his lines, storming back from a three-goal deficit to force overtime. Nylander played little part in the comeback, sitting most of the third period and all of the extra frame as he ended his night without a point to his credit.
William Nylander now on the fourth line with Par Lindholm and Tyler Ennis. Nylander hasn’t had a shift since coming off the ice 8:23 into the third period.
— Dave McCarthy (@DaveAMcCarthy) December 7, 2018
Connor Brown replaced him with Patrick Marleau and Nazem Kadri.#LeafsForever #LGRW #NHL
It wasn't all negative for the returning Leafs' star, however. Nylander showed flashes of ingenuity and tenacity at both ends of the ice.
larkin steals it from nylander and nylander steals it right back pic.twitter.com/Nrw0I9YbYl
— dylan (@DylanFremlin) December 7, 2018
He even drew a penalty as he showed some of the speed that helped make him a $45 million man.
What a nice play from William Nylander to use his speed and draw a penalty late in the period. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/NIs9w2uGh8
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) December 7, 2018
For his part, Nylander wasn't discouraged by his debut. He told reporters after the game that he was expecting "a lot of difference" between his practicing on his own and jumping into game action.
William Nylander on his debut, playing 12:29 and nothing after 8:23 mark of 3rd period:
— Dave McCarthy (@DaveAMcCarthy) December 7, 2018
“It felt okay, there’s a lot of difference from practicing by yourself and with the team back home. Started feeling better and the legs were okay so it felt like an okay first game.”
Toronto falls to 20-8-1 after Thursday's loss. The Leafs are back in action against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.