Maple Leafs vs. Kraken: Montour's Late Winner Spoils McKenna's Two Goals 5-4

Maple Leafs vs. Kraken: a 5-4 loss with 33 seconds left

The Maple Leafs vs. Kraken game on Oct. 28 at Climate Pledge Arena ended the cruellest way possible. Toronto came back from 4-2 down in the third period, tied it on an Auston Matthews goal with the net empty at 18:30, and then lost 5-4 when Brandon Montour beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a slap shot from the top of the right circle with about 33 seconds left in regulation.

The loss wasted the best night of Gavin McKenna's young career. The 18-year-old first overall pick scored twice on the power play, both on passes from Matthews, and set up the tying goal for his first three-point game in the NHL. It also dropped Toronto to 7-6-2 and left the Leafs with two points from the first three stops of their western road trip, with Vancouver still to come on Saturday, Oct. 31.

How the game unfolded

Seattle got the start it wanted. Berkly Catton opened the scoring at 1:59 of the first period, set up by Mackie Samoskevich. Toronto did not get even until the final minute of the period, when McKenna snapped a Matthews pass off the far post from the right dot on the power play.

The second period is where the game got away. Josh Mahura put the Kraken back in front, McKenna tied it again with a one-timer off a no-look Matthews feed on another power play, and then Seattle scored twice more: Chandler Stephenson on a power play at 3:33 and Ryker Evans at 10:58, when his wrist shot from the left faceoff dot went in off the far post. Toronto went into the third down 4-2.

Here is the scoring sequence, using the period and time stamps the recaps agree on:

Jack Roslovic cut the gap to one at 8:02 of the third, and with Bobrovsky on the bench for an extra attacker, Matthews tied it with a minute and a half to go, McKenna picking up the assist. Overtime looked certain. Montour needed one shot to change that.

Bobrovsky's worst night in a Leafs sweater

There is no soft way to say it: Bobrovsky made 12 saves on 17 shots, a .706 save percentage, and the winner was a goal he wants back. The Leafs Nation, citing Natural Stat Trick, had him at minus-3.05 goals saved above expected in all situations, his worst start of the season. Yahoo News Canada's game coverage noted he has now allowed at least three goals in nine of his first 10 starts for Toronto.

Bobrovsky acknowledged after the game that he could have helped on the final goal. His teammates did not leave it all on him. Matthews told reporters, as reported by The Hockey News on Oct. 29, that every now and then there will be a couple a goalie wants back, but "I put it more on us as a five-man unit." That is fair as far as it goes: two of the Seattle goals came off deflections, a point Jim Hiller made after the game.

Hiller was blunt when asked whether he considered pulling Bobrovsky for Anthony Stolarz. "No. Not at all," he said, per Maple Leafs Hot Stove. We think the goalie question now goes well beyond one night, and we make that case in a separate column on why Stolarz should start in Vancouver.

McKenna and Matthews: the power play worked, five-on-five did not

Hiller moved McKenna onto the top line with Matthews and Roslovic for this game, the move we argued for in our piece on giving Gavin McKenna more ice time. Before the game, Hiller said, per Maple Leafs Hot Stove, that McKenna had played enough with Matthews and enough in the league that "he just has to go play his game."

On the power play, that is exactly what happened. Matthews had the primary assist on both McKenna goals, and the pair look like they read the same play at the same time. At even strength it was a different story. Hiller said afterward that "at 5-on-5, I didn't think they did all that much," according to The Leafs Nation. That is an honest assessment, and it should not end the experiment. One game is not a sample, and with Kirill Marchenko and John Tavares both out, Hiller does not have a better option for that spot.

McKenna's numbers now read five goals and 11 points in 15 games. At 18 years and 312 days, he became the youngest Maple Leaf with a multi-goal game since Jack Hamilton in February 1944, per NHL statistics. We dig into that history in our piece on McKenna's two-goal game. Matthews finished with a goal and two assists, giving him 10 goals and 23 points in 15 games, two days after his record-setting 800th career point.

What the road trip has cost Toronto

The trip opened with a 7-2 rout in Edmonton on Oct. 24 and has gone sideways since. The Leafs lost 5-2 in Calgary on Oct. 26, where Marchenko was hurt, and now this. Before the trip we set five of eight points as the bar for a successful swing west. Toronto can no longer reach it. Two of six points so far means the best possible outcome is four of eight.

Here is how the four-game western trip stands:

The injury list is not helping. The team announced on Oct. 28 that Marchenko is week-to-week with a lower-body injury; Howard Berger has floated an unconfirmed MCL sprain, which the team has not confirmed. Tavares (lower body), Marshall Rifai (lower body) and Nick Blankenburg (upper body) are all week-to-week. The one piece of good news: Chris Tanev was upgraded to day-to-day and skated in a regular jersey on Oct. 28, which keeps alive the Saturday return in Vancouver that has been floated.

Three things we took from Seattle

• The power play is a weapon again. Two power-play goals from McKenna, both off Matthews, and a top unit that looks dangerous with the rookie on the flank.
• The second period has to be better. Seattle scored three times in the middle frame, two at even strength and one on the power play. Chasing a two-goal deficit on the road with a thin lineup is how a trip turns into two points.
• The comeback was real. Roslovic, Matthews and McKenna dragged the team back from two down in the third. A team that quits does not do that. A team that gets saves wins that game in overtime.

What's next: Vancouver on Saturday

The Leafs have two days off before they close the trip against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. ET. The off days matter for Tanev, who could return, and for Hiller, who now has a real goalie decision to make for the first time this season.

Our view is simple. Keep McKenna with Matthews, see if Tanev can go, and start Stolarz. Toronto is 7-6-2, and you can see where that leaves the Leafs on our standings page. A win in Vancouver salvages four of eight points. A loss turns a promising trip into a three-game slide heading home.