Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander will undergo further evaluation after leaving Friday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres in the third period with an unspecified injury. Nylander’s status for Saturday’s game against the Sabres is to be determined.

“Maybe. Yeah, we’ll see,” Berube said Friday when asked if Nylander could miss Saturday’s game. “Got to see him. I got to see him (Saturday).”

Nylander went to the dressing room, after getting hit by Sabres forward Jason Zucker and did not play in the final 5:31 of Friday’s 5-3 loss.

Injuries are quickly piling up for the Maple Leafs, as Chris Tanev was placed on injured reserve retroactive to October 21 with an upper-body injury, while Morgan Rielly missed Friday’s game with an undisclosed injury. Rielly’s status is also to be determined for Saturday’s game. Scott Laughton is still recovering from a lower-body injury, while Joseph Woll rejoined the team Friday after taking a personal leave of absence.

Nylander is second in NHL scoring (three goals, 11 assists) prior to Saturday’s slate, trailing only Vegas Golden Knights centre Jack Eichel. He’s been a galvanizing force for a Maple Leafs team that is still struggling to generate consistent offence throughout the lineup and are fighting their way through a 3-4-1 start. Nylander was placed on Toronto’s top line for Friday’s contest with Bobby McMann and Auston Matthews, after primarily spending the year on John Tavares’ wing, and scored during the first period on a breakaway.

“They looked really good,” Berube said of the Matthews-Nylander pairing. “They were quick. They supported each other really well and were strong on pucks. There was a lot of offensive-zone time. A lot of good things from that line.”

Nylander has been one of the few constants for the Maple Leafs, emphatically responding to an early season callout from Berube and driving the offence. If Nylander misses any time at all, it will be a crushing loss for a team that quickly needs to find its identity and composure, entering the second game of a back-to-back.

Make sure to tune into The Nation Network’s watch-along doubleheader! Zack Phillips and special guests will be live on The Leafs Nation’s YouTube channel to watch Leafs-Sabres, followed by Adam Peddle and Nick Paleolog going live on Blue Jays Today’s YouTube channel for Game 2 of the World Series.