William Nylander Is Going To Have To Go Into Witness Protection Program After Things Got Spicy At The End Of The Leafs vs Panthers Game 4
Max Domi is just a guy doing his job right here. This is exactly what the Florida Panthers do year after year, series after series, game after game. They play greasy. They habitually cross the line. They know they can risk losing a player to a 1-game suspension if it knocks an opponent out of the series. So anybody who has an issue with this Max Domi hit on Barkov at the end of the game can file a complaint with the league, print that complaint out, roll it into a ball and shove it up their own ass.
Now just because he's doing his job doesn't mean there aren't any consequences that come along with it. The Florida Panthers aren't going to spend too much time and energy trying to go after Max Domi for that hit. Instead, they'll make sure to get their revenge by hitting the Leafs where it hurts even more.
William Nylander just made Matthew Tkachuk's list.
And let's make something abundantly clear here. Everybody knows that Matthew Tkachuk isn't necessarily the biggest, baddest dude in the league. It's not like he's some massive mutant out there who delivers devastating hits along the boards. Everybody knows that deep to his core, he's a rat. He's going to catch you in open ice with your head turned, and he's going to get you up high with an elbow. And the thing I can respect about Tkachuk is at least he's open and honest about it.
He lets him know right away that he's already put in an order with the kitchen for a high elbow coming Nylander's way.
The Leafs can't afford to lose Nylander for any time in this series. They've already blown a 2-0 series lead, and now it's become a best-of-3. Toronto had all the momentum in this one, and it's been erased in the blink of an eye. If they lose Nylander for even a shift, it'll be damn near impossible to gut this one out. Which is why witness protection program might be the only move here.
You have William's brother, Alex Nylander, in the Toronto Maple Leafs' organization. Maybe you send Willy out there in his jersey. Maybe you get William Nylander to legally change his name today, shave his beard, throw on a tinted visor and change his number for game 5. Whatever you do, you can't have Matthew Tkachuk running around on the ice next game looking to catch Nylander in the chin with a flying elbow. Because Tkachuk has a 100% success rate of hitting those. Maybe the 2nd best in the business at catching guys up high with a sneaky elbow, behind only his teammate Sam Bennett.
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First 10 minutes of game 5 should be mayhem. Can't wait.