McKenna scores first NHL goal, Maple Leafs rally past Predators in OT

TORONTO -- Gavin McKenna scored his first NHL goal and got his first assist, and Auston Matthews scored with 14 seconds left in overtime for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who rallied to defeat the Nashville Predators 5-4 at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

McKenna, the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, had gone without a point in his first three games.

“A big monkey off the back, that one felt good. That’s a goal I’ll obviously remember forever,” McKenna said. “Yeah I’d say it felt longer (than three games) but I think just every single game I’ve been trying to get better, and I thought obviously tonight was my best one.”

Matthews, who also had three assists, put in the rebound of William Nylander’s shot at the bottom of the right face-off circle to give Toronto the win.

“I thought he’s been really good our whole camp, he’s been working on every puck, but tonight for me, he was a little bit different tonight,” Toronto coach Jim Hiller said of Matthews. “From just a pure hockey perspective, to appreciate his game tonight, it was really a special night for him. I’m not even talking about the goal, just his game start to finish.”

Nylander had a goal and two assists, and Jack Roslovic had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs (2-2-0), who have had each of their four games decided by one goal. Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves. 

“I don’t think it was anything too fancy,” said Matthews, the Toronto captain. “Other than the power-play goal, it was just work, winning battles, finding the open guys and then making plays as well. I thought the second half, we really just simplified our game and just decided not to lose battles, be first on pucks and outcompete the other team.”

Steven Stamkos and Nils Hoglander each scored twice, and Filip Forsberg had two assists for the Predators (1-1-1). Juuse Saros made 32 saves. 

“I thought we got into our game and played to our identity that we need to play,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “… But inconsistency with the puck I thought through the back end, we were leaving a lot of pucks in the middle of the ice against a team with the skill they have, it just kept coming back in waves and when this building gets going, it can be a little intimidating.”

McKenna cut it to 4-3 at 14:31 of the second period when he took a pass from Matthews, who was at the right boards, and shot past Saros’ blocker from just above the right face-off dot. 

"That goal was a goal-scorer's goal," Hiller said. "We know he's a playmaker, by trade he's a playmaker, but that was a goal-scorer's goal. Got his feet around it on the strong side and had some zip on it.

"The guys were really excited for him but more importantly it was a big goal in the hockey game. That's one you remember, it was really important. It wasn't the first goal of the game, it was an important moment and he came up big in an important moment. I liked that." 

The Maple Leafs tied it 4-4 at 8:54 of the third period. Roslovic took a pass from Matthews that put him in alone before he lifted a shot over Saros’ glove from the top of the crease.

Nylander appeared to put Toronto up 5-4 at 11:49, but the goal was disallowed after Nashville successfully challenged for offside. 

“I felt like in the locker room, I kind of felt like we were maybe going to come back,” Nylander said. “The past couple games we’ve been building something even not being on the right side of results, but maybe we didn’t play great in the first period but started putting it together in the second and third starting with John (Tavares).”

The Predators went up 1-0 on the power play at 7:13 of the first period when Stamkos put in the rebound of Matthew Wood’s shot below the left dot. Toronto had three chances to clear the zone on the penalty kill but failed to do so each time before Stamkos’ goal.

Hoglander pushed it to 2-0 at 9:08. After Adam Wilsby’s shot banked off the end boards, Hoglander corralled it at the left side of the net and tucked it around the post with Stolarz out of position. 

Hoglander scored again at 3:03 of the second period to make it 3-0, chipping in a rebound at the side of the crease after Filip Forsberg carried the puck to the net. 

Tavares pulled Toronto to within 3-1 at 4:56. He carried the puck through the neutral zone after taking a pass from McKenna and shot over Saros’ blocker from the left dot. 

Nylander then made it 3-2 on the power play at 6:58. After Saros made a right pad save on Matthews’ shot, Nylander put the rebound in from the slot. 

“Pretty disappointing,” Stamkos said. “We played so good at the beginning, get a 3-0 lead, come out, start strong. I don’t know how many times we have to remind ourselves that taking penalties is a recipe to allow teams back in the game. They get some momentum back, their good players feel the puck and start to feel good about their game. … (At) 3-0, that should be a game we close out if we want to be a playoff team.”

The Predators extended the lead to 4-2 at 13:30 when Stamkos shot over Stolarz’s glove from the top of the right circle.

“For us to come back, I don’t think for a second we thought we were going to lose that game,” McKenna said. “I think we were super confident and I think that’s the way we need to play every single game. For us to get it done, it was a pretty special win and for it to be before a big road trip, that’s even bigger.”

NOTES: McKenna became the youngest Maple Leafs player at the time of his first point (18 years, 290 days) since Drake Berehowsky (18 years, 280 days) on Oct. 10, 1990. … Stamkos became the third active player to score 100 game-opening goals. The others: Alex Ovechkin (154) and Sidney Crosby (127). … Predators center Ryan O'Reilly (assist) recorded his 900th career point and became the third player from the 2009 NHL Draft to reach the mark, following Tavares (1,188) and Matt Duchene (936).