Gavin McKenna played just six minutes and 36 seconds during the Maple Leafs’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena. His last shift came midway through the second period.
“We had those penalties, I wanted to get him out there, he sat through the penalties, and then I didn’t get him out there through that stretch,” head coach Jim Hiller explained. “And then the last few minutes of the period, we were just trying to get out of the period, I guess you would say, and now I’ve sat him for so long, and he sits in the intermission. So, I probably should’ve got him out there early in the third. I didn’t, so I’ll talk to him about that.”
The Leafs were shorthanded twice in the second half of the second period with Oliver Ekman-Larsson getting whistled for high sticking at 14:35 and Morgan Rielly getting called for hooking at 18:07. Zach Benson was called for interference at 18:33, which ended the second Buffalo power play after 26 seconds. McKenna, the first overall pick in the 2026 draft, is not part of Toronto’s penalty-kill rotation.
Between the Ekman-Larsson penalty and the Rielly penalty, Kirill Marchenko scored to give the Leafs a 4-2 lead.
McKenna was on the ice for a goal by Jack Quinn in the second period, but Hiller insisted the benching had nothing to do with the 18-year-old winger’s performance.
“It was OK. It was OK. It was OK. It was fine,” the coach said. “The big thing is penalties. He doesn’t get to play, we get into the [intermission], now he hasn’t played for 30-some-odd minutes. We talked about getting him out in the third and then I guess it didn’t just happen, but that’s on me. And then once we got into that stage, I said, ‘I’m not going to put him out there now. I’ve been sitting him there for 30 minutes, it’s not fair to him.’”
John Tavares left the game early in the third period after suffering an injury via an awkward collision with Josh Norris. There was no update on the 36-year-old centre’s status following the game.
Zack MacEwen was also benched in the third period as the Leafs rolled with three lines down the stretch in their first game back following a Western road trip. Toronto squandered its lead in the final frame and lost in overtime on an Owen Power goal.
McKenna was not available to the media after the game.
“I mean, I think, you know, those things kind of happen sometimes,” captain Auston Matthews said when asked about McKenna’s benching. “I think everybody has been in that situation before and it’s not necessarily a situation you want to be in, but we’ve all got his back and I know a game like tonight is just going to make him hungry for the next one, to go out there and compete and dominate, and I’m excited to watch that.”
The Leafs have a day off on Friday. Toronto will hold a skate and media availability on Saturday morning before hosting the New York Islanders.
McKenna entered Thursday’s game on a four-game point streak and logged a career high 17 minutes and eight seconds during Toronto’s 5-4 loss in Utah on Tuesday. Is Hiller worried about the rookie’s psyche?
“Well, I’ll talk to him,” he said. “Yeah, you’re always worried, but I think, you know, you guys have talked to him, I’ve said this before, I’ve talked to Gavin, very mature, very, you know, lets stuff roll off him, doesn’t take anything too personally. That’s what I’ve got from him. He’s usually ready to go. There’s been other times I haven’t played him as much and put him in there and double shifted him and those kind of things and he’s responded. I’ll talk to him, but I don’t have a big concern about that.”