Among the NHL teammates who will be on opposite benches during the 4-Nations Face-Off include Toronto Maple Leafs stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Matthews, who grew up in Scottsdale, Ariz., will be representing the USA while Nylander will be representing his native Sweden.
With the NHL getting ready to shut down soon for the first ever 4 Nations Face-Off, Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander was asked if there were any side bets among teammates that will be going up against each other.
Squaring off with nearly identical records entering Wednesday’s contest, the Toronto Maple Leafs were presented with a key opportunity to get out of a rut against a quality Minnesota Wild team, with a four-game road trip on the horizon before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Matthews and Nylander both scored two goals as Toronto battled back from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits in the third period to beat New Jersey 4-3.
It wasn’t until William Nylander, the ‘Breakaway Man,’ went toe-to-toe with fellow Swede and Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson on yet another chance in alone but striking the
Matthews was named captain of the Maple Leafs on Aug. 14, taking over for John Tavares, who passed along the role to star forward. Matthews is the 26th captain in the club's history and the first US-born player to wear the "C' for Toronto.
Auston Matthews and William Nylander have been Toronto Maple Leafs teammates for nine seasons. They've displayed elite chemistry throughout their time together.
TSN's Darren Dreger says Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has received the tremendous honour of being named captain of Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews made his thoughts extremely clear about William Nylander's overtime winner in the Maple Leafs' 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
Finland, Sweden, the United States, and Canada will reveal their captains for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February on Thursday.
William Nylander scored his second goal of the game at 1:10 of overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Thursday night.
Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning was named captain of Sweden. The other two assistant captains are Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Mattias Ekholm of the Edmonton Oilers. Finland was the first team in the tournament to name its captain and assistants on Thursday.