William Nylander comes clean on Leafs bench argument that sparked an apparent 'Stop f*cking crying bro' outburst

By ARJUN B

Modified Apr 28, 2024 14:53 GMT

The Toronto Maple Leafs are facing elimination after falling 3-1 to the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series.

Frustrations boiled over on the Leafs bench midway through the second period when cameras caught William Nylander and Mitch Marner arguing, with Nylander appearing to yell:

"Stop f*ing crying bro."

After the game, Nylander came clean about the heated exchange.

"Yeah, you know what, that's just the way ---I mean, we expect a lot from each other and we love each other. So I mean, just to push each other, have a high ceiling, I think is great." Nylander said post-game.

Marner echoed his teammate's sentiments about the argument stemming from wanting to succeed.

"We're not yelling at each other because we hate each other. We just want to be all on the same page to help each other out," Marner said. "We're grown men, we just want to talk about plays to make sure we're 100% on and know what we're doing, just a little bit off page there."

It was a frustrating night overall for the Maple Leafs, who now trail the Bruins 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.

The Maple Leafs HC Sheldon Keefe addressed the bench argument post-game, saying:

“I don’t sense any frustration. Guys are pushing one another. Guys are competitive. Guys want to win. It is all part of it.”

Goaltender Ilya Samsonov was pulled after allowing three goals on just 17 shots through two periods. Backup Joseph Woll came on in relief and stopped the bleeding, but the Leafs could not overturn the deficit.

Mitch Marner scored the lone goal for Toronto. Meanwhile, star center Auston Matthews did not play in the third period due to an undisclosed issue after logging just 14:16 of ice time.

Brad Marchand, James van Riemsdyk and David Pastrnak have netted goals for the Bruins. Jeremy Swayman stopped 25 shots

William Nylander refuses to disclose his playoff absence

Maple Leafs forward William Nylander has missed the first three games of the playoffs but is refusing to reveal the exact reason why. Although Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Nylander is dealing with an issue sparked by a migraine, the player declined to confirm.

"Look, that's just personal so I'm not going to get into that, but anything else you guys want to discuss," William Nylander told reporters before Game 4 against Boston.

The series now shifts back to Boston for Game 5 on Tuesday. The Maple Leafs will need to win three straight to keep their Stanley Cup dreams alive.