McKenna Scored Twice. Toronto Still Lost With 33 Seconds Left.
GOATIFYGavin McKenna delivered the sort of performance that should have defined an entire night for Toronto. The 18-year-old scored twice on the power play, recorded his first three-point NHL game and helped Auston Matthews pull the Maple Leafs level in the final 90 seconds. Then Brandon Montour took one slap shot with 32.7 seconds remaining, and all of that work was worth nothing in the standings. Seattle escaped with a 5-4 victory at Climate Pledge Arena on October 28, turning Toronto's comeback into another reminder that spectacular offense cannot cover every defensive mistake.
The result was not simply a story of one late goal. Seattle had led 4-2, watched the lead disappear, and still found the final answer. Toronto had the most exciting teenager on the ice and a captain who finished with three points, yet came away without even an overtime point. The contrast explains why both teams can find encouragement in their attacking play and uncomfortable questions in how they manage the closing minutes.
Two power-play goals made this McKenna's breakthrough night
McKenna's first goal was a reminder of why Toronto used the first overall pick in the 2026 draft on him. Late in the opening period, with the Leafs trailing 1-0, Matthews worked from the bottom of the right circle and sent the puck to the rookie at the right dot. McKenna had the confidence to release immediately, snapping a shot off the far post and into the net with 46 seconds remaining before intermission. A game that could have drifted away from Toronto had been reset by a teenager who was still learning what NHL space feels like.
His second was even more revealing. Just 1:46 into the second period, Matthews disguised his intention with a no-look pass across the slot. McKenna was ready at the right circle, timing a one-timer past Philipp Grubauer's left skate. Both goals came with the man advantage, but they were not interchangeable. One rewarded a clean catch-and-release; the other demanded precise timing and an understanding of where his veteran linemate would send the puck before the pass arrived.
McKenna added an assist on Matthews' late equalizer to complete his first three-point NHL game. The performance also carried historical weight: at 18 years and 312 days, he became Toronto's youngest player with a multigoal game since Jack Hamilton in February 1944. He also reached 10 career points within his first 15 NHL appearances, a mark only a small group of Maple Leafs teenagers has managed. Those comparisons are interesting because they put his opening month into perspective, not because they guarantee an eventual Hall of Fame career.
The frustrating part is that none of those achievements changed the final result. McKenna finished with two goals, one assist and a defeat. For a developing player, that is a valuable distinction: personal growth and team success can happen on different schedules. His task is to repeat the quality of the decisions, not to chase three points every night. Toronto's task is to stop making those decisions feel wasted.
Matthews and McKenna have chemistry — but Toronto needs more than special teams
Matthews' three-point night was the engine behind Toronto's comeback. He assisted both McKenna power-play goals, then finished a six-on-five passing sequence to tie the score with 1:30 remaining. On the equalizer, Darren Raddysh delivered from the point and Matthews one-timed the puck from a tight angle. Toronto had pulled Sergei Bobrovsky for an extra attacker, and the gamble worked just long enough to make the ending seem like it might be rescued.
That is the good news. The Leafs' two successful power plays came from three opportunities, and McKenna's movement gave Matthews another legitimate finishing option. Opponents cannot simply collapse around the captain's shot if a teenage winger is waiting to strike on the other side of the formation. The passing chemistry is already visible, and it is especially valuable while Toronto adjusts to injuries among its established forwards. There is a difference, however, between creating a dangerous special-teams unit and controlling an entire game.
Toronto's coach acknowledged the distinction after the loss: the partnership looked more convincing on the power play than at five-on-five. That is not a condemnation of either player. Power plays offer rehearsed spacing and an extra body; even-strength hockey requires more contested puck retrievals, stronger defensive reads and sustained pressure against full-strength opponents. McKenna can be an exceptional shooter and still need time to learn those responsibilities. Matthews can drive the offense and still be unable to protect every shift from a counterattack.
The third period illustrated both sides. Jack Roslovic brought Toronto within one at 8:02 while the teams were four-on-four, finishing after Easton Cowan's attempt produced a rebound. Matthews eventually tied it, and the Leafs appeared to have earned at least one point. Yet the comeback did not eliminate the damage done by the earlier defensive lapses. Toronto entered the night with a 7-5-2 record and left 7-6-2. The club has enough scoring to survive difficult stretches, but it cannot rely on late desperation as a substitute for a repeatable game plan.
Seattle blew another two-goal lead — then executed the one play that mattered
Seattle's attack was built by committee rather than one superstar. Berkly Catton opened the scoring with a sharp move around Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Josh Mahura finished a two-on-one rush early in the second, Chandler Stephenson benefited from a deflection on the power play, and Ryker Evans made it 4-2 with a shot off the far post. Four different players had scored before Montour delivered the winner. That distribution matters for a team that has often needed its depth to compensate for the absence of a dominant individual scorer.
The problem was what happened after the Kraken established a cushion. Seattle had already blown multigoal third-period leads in two other recent games and still recovered to win. Against Toronto, the same pattern returned. Roslovic scored at four-on-four, Matthews tied it with the extra attacker, and suddenly the home team had to find another answer after surrendering a 4-2 advantage. A perfect record when holding a multigoal lead can disguise a dangerous habit: protecting a result too conservatively can invite the very pressure a team is trying to prevent.
Montour's winning goal came from a straightforward but perfectly timed offensive-zone restart. Matty Beniers won the draw, Jordan Eberle moved the puck across to the top of the right circle, and Montour stepped into a slap shot that got through Bobrovsky with 32.7 seconds on the clock. It was not a complicated individual rush or an improvised miracle. It was an organized sequence executed when Toronto had barely finished celebrating the equalizer.
The final score should not erase Seattle's underlying concern. The Kraken improved to 8-4-1 and won their third game in four, but repeatedly asking the offense to recover a lead it has already built is a risky formula. They have shown the nerve to respond and the balance to get goals from multiple positions. The next step is to make those late rescue acts less necessary. A contender should want Montour's shot to be a bonus, not the only way to salvage two points.
Five goals on 17 shots made Toronto's defensive mistakes impossible to ignore
Toronto's final defensive line is where the night becomes uncomfortable. Bobrovsky stopped 12 of 17 Seattle shots, a total that makes the five goals allowed difficult to dismiss as a barrage of unstoppable chances. Not every goal was solely the goaltender's fault. Catton's opening finish came after a skillful move through the slot; Mahura completed a two-on-one into an open net; Stephenson's pass changed direction off Troy Stecher's skate. But a team hoping to win on the road cannot afford that combination of broken coverage, unlucky bounces and a late shot through its goaltender.
The game was not a simple case of Toronto being dominated in every area. The Maple Leafs produced four goals and generated enough pressure to erase a two-goal deficit. Their power play was efficient, and their best players delivered in the highest-leverage moments. That is precisely why the loss stings. When the offense creates an equalizer at 18:30 of the third period, the next assignment is modest: manage the puck, survive the final minute and take the game to overtime. Toronto failed to complete even that small part of the job.
There is a tactical lesson in the sequence that ended it. A defensive-zone problem does not always begin with a spectacular turnover; sometimes it is losing a faceoff in the wrong part of the ice, failing to close the shooting lane or allowing a defender time to wind up. Montour's slap shot followed a clean Seattle draw and a pass that left him room at the circle. Whether Bobrovsky should have stopped it is one debate. Why the Kraken could execute the sequence so cleanly with seconds remaining is another, and arguably more useful one for the coaching staff.
Toronto's next game is scheduled for Saturday at Vancouver, giving the Leafs a chance to finish their western trip with a response. The important metric will not be whether McKenna scores again. Watch whether Toronto can prevent odd-man rushes, keep opponents out of high-value areas and close a tied game without inviting one last clean look. The rookie is ahead of schedule as a scorer. The team around him still has work to do as a finisher.
McKenna's breakthrough should survive the disappointment of the result. His two power-play goals were real progress, and Matthews' chemistry with him gives Toronto another weapon while the forward group deals with injuries. But the Maple Leafs cannot build a reliable season around the assumption that their best players will rescue every deficit. The next step is to create cleaner possessions, protect the middle and make a late equalizer count for something.
Seattle has its own warning: repeatedly losing multigoal leads is not a sustainable way to win. Still, Montour's winner showed the value of a team with several contributors and the composure to execute one last set play. Toronto had the bigger individual headline. Seattle took the two points.
