Maple Leafs vs Predators: Matthews OT Winner Caps 3-0 Comeback, 5-4

Maple Leafs vs Predators: the result

Auston Matthews scored with 14 seconds left in overtime on Tuesday, Oct. 6, and the Toronto Maple Leafs came back from 3-0 down to beat the Nashville Predators 5-4 at Scotiabank Arena. Matthews finished with a goal and three assists. Gavin McKenna scored his first NHL goal and added his first assist. For anyone who watched the first 23 minutes of Maple Leafs vs Predators, the ending was hard to believe.

The win moves Toronto to 2-2-0 after four games and sends the team west on a positive note, with games in Las Vegas on Oct. 8, Denver on Oct. 10 and Utah on Oct. 13. It also took some of the heat off a week of questions about the second line, the goaltending and the scoring, though not all of it.

LeafsLurker's read: this was the first game of the Jim Hiller era where Toronto's best player looked like the best player on the ice for 65 minutes. That matters more than the comeback itself.

How the comeback unfolded

The first period went badly. Steven Stamkos opened the scoring on a Nashville power play at 7:13, putting in the rebound of a Matthew Wood shot. Less than two minutes later Nils Hoglander made it 2-0 at 9:08, tucking the puck around the post with Anthony Stolarz out of position. Hoglander added another at 3:03 of the second period, chipping in a rebound at the side of the crease. Toronto was down three on home ice, three days after a 3-2 loss to Ottawa.

Then the Leafs started skating. Here is how the scoring went, per the NHL.com game summary:

TimeTeamScorerScore1st, 7:13 (PP)NashvilleSteven Stamkos0-11st, 9:08NashvilleNils Hoglander0-22nd, 3:03NashvilleNils Hoglander0-32nd, 4:56TorontoJohn Tavares (McKenna)1-32nd, 6:58 (PP)TorontoWilliam Nylander (Matthews, Marchenko)2-32nd, 13:30NashvilleSteven Stamkos2-42nd, 14:31TorontoGavin McKenna (Matthews)3-43rd, 8:54TorontoJack Roslovic (Matthews)4-4OT, 4:46TorontoAuston Matthews (Nylander)5-4

Tavares got Toronto on the board off the rush with McKenna making the play. Two minutes later Nylander buried the rebound of a Matthews shot on the power play. When Stamkos restored the two-goal lead, McKenna answered 61 seconds later, ripping a Matthews pass over Juuse Saros' blocker. In the third, Matthews sent Roslovic in alone and Roslovic lifted it over Saros' glove from the top of the crease to tie it.

The goal that did not count, and the one that did

Toronto thought it had the lead at 11:49 of the third when Nylander scored again. Nashville challenged for offside and won. The replay showed Matthews briefly losing control of the puck under pressure from Ryan O'Reilly as he carried it in, and that hesitation was enough for Nylander to cross the blue line a fraction early. It was the right call, and it is the kind of play that would have defined the night if the Leafs had gone on to lose.

They did not. Saros kept Nashville alive more than once, including a save on a three-on-none rush that should have ended the game. But late in overtime Nylander stripped Roman Josi of the puck, drove the net and shot from the bottom of the right circle. Matthews was there for the rebound with 14 seconds to spare.

Toronto outshot Nashville 38-25. Saros made 33 saves. Stolarz made 21 and is now 2-0 in his two starts, while Sergei Bobrovsky is 0-2. That split will be a talking point on the road trip, and we covered why Bobrovsky's start is not yet a problem in our look at Sundin's role in the signing.

Auston Matthews looked like Auston Matthews

The four-point night is the headline, but the way Matthews got there is what should encourage Toronto. He scored once and set up three, and every assist was a different kind of play: a shot that produced a power-play rebound, a pass into the slot for a rookie, and a stretch feed that put Roslovic in alone. He was also strong on the defensive side of the puck, which The Leafs Nation singled out in its post-game takeaways.

Hiller noticed. Asked whether this looked like the Matthews of old, the head coach said: "It really was for me... I really felt something special from Auston... It was just a little bit different," as reported by Maple Leafs Hot Stove and The Hockey News on Oct. 7.

Context matters here. Matthews' 2025-26 season ended early with a Grade 3 MCL tear and a bruised quadriceps after a game against Anaheim, and he finished with 27 goals and 53 points in 60 games. He came back through training camp and the preseason, and we tracked his return in the preseason finale. One game does not prove the knee is a non-issue, but this was the first regular-season night where he looked like a player capable of carrying a team rather than a player working his way back.

Four No. 1 picks on one scoresheet

The night came with a piece of history. Stamkos (2008), Tavares (2009), Matthews (2016) and McKenna (2026) all scored, the fourth time in NHL history that four first overall picks have scored in the same game, according to Global News and TSN. Stamkos scored twice for Nashville; the other three were Leafs.

There was a lighter side to it, too. McKenna is living with Tavares this season, and on the Sunday before the game he had a sleepover at Matthews' house, watching Sunday Night Football and eating sandwiches, as reported in coverage of the game. The first goal of the comeback came from his landlord, and the last from his host. McKenna's own breakthrough deserves more space than a recap allows, so we have a separate piece on what his first goal does and does not change.

What still needs fixing

The comeback does not erase how the game started. Toronto gave up a power-play goal and two more from the crease area in the first 23 minutes, and that is now a pattern rather than a one-off. The Leafs have already lost 3-2 to Montreal and 3-2 to Ottawa, and coming back from three down at home against a Nashville team starting a road trip is not a repeatable plan against Vegas or Colorado.

Three things to watch on the trip:

• Starts. A first period against Vegas that looks like Tuesday's will not be forgiven.
• The penalty kill. Stamkos' opener came on the power play. Discipline was a theme in our Predators preview, and it remains one.
• Net-front defence. Two of Nashville's goals were rebounds at the side of the crease. That is on the defence pairs as much as the goalie.

What's next: Vegas on Thursday

The Leafs play the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 10 p.m. ET. That means Mitch Marner, last spring's playoff scoring leader, and a Vegas team that went to the Stanley Cup Final. We have a full preview of the Golden Knights game.

Tuesday answered one question: when Matthews plays like this, Toronto can beat anybody on a given night. It did not answer the bigger one, which is whether this team can play 60 minutes without needing him to. Four games in, the standings show two wins and two losses. Check where that leaves Toronto on our standings page after the trip.