William Nylander brushes off significance of snapping 8-game goal drought after Leafs HC's "lack of confidence" statement

William Nylander ended his eight-game goal drought in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. His last goal was on Dec. 21, when he scored twice against the New York Islanders.

In the game against the Hurricanes, Nylander had a breakaway and a 2v1 early on but couldn’t score. Still, he kept working hard. Coach Craig Berube praised Nylander's effort in tonight's game.

"Early on, he had a 2v1 and a breakaway, and it didn’t go in." Berube said, "He stayed with it. I thought he was way better tonight. He had a lot of opportunities. He skated and worked. It was good to see."

William Nylander again got the opportunity in the first period and scored an unassisted goal at 07:29 to give Toronto a 2-0 lead.

“It was going to happen eventually. So it wasn’t really ... no, no worries,” Nylander said after the game agaist Hurricanes [5:10]

Prior to the game against the Hurricanes, Berube said Nylander had a lack of confidence recently.

"I think sometimes skilled players and scorers lose their confidence a little bit." Berube said, "And that's what I see right now with Willy: a little bit of a lack of confidence. And for me, it's talking to him about just working his way out of the situation...That's the biggest thing for me is just get him back to work a little bit more."

Berube added that William Nylander needs to work harder in puck battles and play with more pace, as he did when scoring a lot earlier.

"He's just kind of not playing with the same pace right now." Berube said.

Nylander has 24 goals this season and is second in points with 44 on the team. He is a key player for the Leafs, who are leading the Atlantic Division. Nylander signed an eight-year, $92 million contract with Toronto and is part of the team’s “Core 4” with Matthews, Marner, and Tavares.

Maple Leafs lost to Hurricanes despite William Nylander and Auston Matthews' goals

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 6-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes. Nicholas Robertson scored first at 1:59 to make it 1-0. William Nylander then made it 2-0 at 7:29. Carolina quickly tied it. Eric Robinson scored at 13:58 to make it 2-1. Jordan Staal tied it 2-2 at 14:15. Staal then scored a short-handed goal at 35 seconds into the second period for a 3-2 lead.

Auston Matthews tied it 3-3 on the power play at 1:11. Jackson Blake gave Carolina a 4-3 lead. Staal’s third goal made it 5-3. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal to seal the win.