In that game Nylander was not a good game outside scored tying goal especially in the defensive side, thats it but was a pretty tought 1st game at C. He was looking lost at time like the ottawa 1st goal, i think he lost a 1v1 battle on 3 or 4th goal
But he need time to adapt for sure and i dont know if we could expect anything else from a guy who pratically didn't play at C last 8 years. Let's see with couple of game what it will look like
Other than focusing a bit too much on the defensive end, he wasn't bad. He was in the proper positioning for a centre pretty much all game.
On the first Ottawa goal he was in position and covering his man in front on the net. The puck went from the winger in the corner to the defenceman who scored.
On the third Ottawa goal he was in position covering his man in front of the net. The centre got his foot on the puck, then passed it back to the defenceman who scored. Yes, he lost that puck battle.
Oddly enough, the player who scored both those goals would have been his man if he was playing wing, and he likely would have been covering them as he usually did. Domi was the RW for both goals.
Yes, not great, but not bad for a first game - let's see how he's doing after 20.