One day after Team Sweden’s opening 5-2 win against the hosts, Italy, at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, William Nylander was absent from practice once again.
Sweden skated on Thursday afternoon, with Adam Johansson of Expressen reporting that the Toronto Maple Leafs’ forward was missing from the practice. The plan, however, is for him to play on Friday against Finland, Johansson reports.
The 29-year-old, who’s playing in his first Olympic Games, scored the game-winner and played 16:27 in Sweden’s victory on Wednesday.
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Also scoring in the game were Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche, Gustav Forsling of the Florida Panthers, Mika Zibanejad of the New York Islanders, and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who was Sweden’s seventh defenseman against Italy, didn’t skate a single shift.
“It was a very special, fun start, playing Italy in Italy, so it was pretty cool,” Nylander told TSN’s Mark Masters after the game.
There were question marks surrounding Nylander’s status entering the game after the forward missed their final practice due to maintenance. But, to no surprise, he ended up playing after getting into a skate on Wednesday morning.
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“Just taking care of my body, making sure I’m good for the remainder of the season,” Nylander continued.
The forward had played just three games with the Maple Leafs before the Olympics. He was dealing with a reaggravated groin injury, which he picked up against the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 15.
The game against Vegas was just his fourth back in the Maple Leafs lineup after missing the previous six games (from Dec. 28 to Jan. 10) because of the initial groin ailment.
Had Nylander been dealing with any groin injuries in the opening days at the Olympics?
“No, not today,” Nylander smiled, after Sweden’s win.
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In the final two games before heading to Italy, Nylander scored a goal and four points against the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. He leads the Maple Leafs with 18 goals and 52 points in 40 games this season.
Along with his goal against Italy on Wednesday, Nylander registered five shots on goal. The team-high belonged to Joel Eriksson Ek, who tallied nine shots in the game.
“I think just playing Italy in Italy was pretty special,” added Nylander, “and getting the W.”
Sweden’s next game is against Finland on Friday at 6:10 a.m. ET (12:10 local).
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