The Toronto Maple Leafs appeared to have forced overtime on Wednesday as Auston Matthews scored a six-on-five goal with 90 seconds left to tie the Seattle Kraken at 4-4.
However, just over a minute later, Kraken defenceman Brandon Montour beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a slap shot with just 32.7 seconds left on the clock to lock up a regulation win for his side.
Bobrovsky struggled for the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, allowing five goals on 17 shots to fall to 3-5-2 on the early season after inking a three-year, $21 million contract in July.
“I thought he was all right,” Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller said of Bobrovsky’s performance. “The last one he probably would want that one back, but one goes off a toe, one goes off a stick. That part of it, he can’t do much.”
“It was just a breakdown, and they’re coming down the (outside) lane,” Matthews explained of the costly final goal. “A pretty good D-man takes a slap shot right at our goalie.”
Toronto entered the third period down 4-2 but clawed back to tie the game and appeared on track to earn a point. The loss put a damper on an impressive night for rookie Gavin McKenna, who had two power-play goals and an assist as he moved up to the top line alongside Matthews.
“I thought we played a hard third period,” McKenna said. “That’s a good team over there, and I thought both teams played good games, and it comes down to the last 30 seconds. So it’s a frustrating one, but that’s one we definitely want back.”
“It’s tough,” Matthews added of the defeat. “I think despite not being that pretty of a game, you work so hard to get yourself back in it and tie the game up and hopefully come out of here with at least one point.
“It definitely stings, but I think there’s nothing we can do now. We’ve got to play one more game here on this road trip and do our best to come out of there with two points.”
McKenna got a look on the top line the with Matthews and Jack Roslovic, who scored his sixth goal of the season Wednesday, as the Maple Leafs shuffled their forwards in the wake of Kirill Marchenko being ruled week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Hiller said he wasn’t overly impressed by the line at five-on-five, but was liked their performance on the power play, which went two-for-three.
“On the power play, for sure,” Hiller responded on if even he saw chemistry between McKenna and Matthews. “At 5-on-5, I didn’t think they did all that much, to be honest with you. But definitely on the power play, and then 6-on-5… Beautiful goals on the power play, no question.”
McKenna was more positive as he reflected on their first game playing together.
“I think when you’re playing with a guy like (Matthews), it makes it pretty easy,” McKenna said. “He’s an unbelievable player, he sees the ice really well. I think teams favor him a little bit with his shot, and it might open up a little bit of space for me. So he’s fun to play with, and I thought we played well.”
The Maple Leafs, who dropped to 7-6-2 with the loss to the Kraken, will close out their western road trip on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks.