Gavin McKenna delivered the best performance of his young NHL career Tuesday as the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the Nashville Predators 5-4 in overtime.
The No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft recorded his first career goal and assist, then acknowledged the relief of finally getting on the scoresheet.
“A big monkey off the back, that one felt good,” McKenna said. “That’s a goal I’ll obviously remember forever.”
McKenna’s first point came early in the second period when he moved the puck to former Leafs captain John Tavares, who carried it through the neutral zone and scored to cut Nashville’s lead to 3-1.
McKenna later scored at 14:31 of the period after current captain Auston Matthews found him above the right face-off circle. The 18-year-old beat Juuse Saros over the blocker to make it 4-3 and help keep Toronto’s comeback alive.
McKenna credited Tavares and Matthews for helping him through the initial stage of his NHL career, joking about possibly having found a winning routine with Toronto’s captain.
“They’ve been awesome,” McKenna said. “Obviously, living at John’s, I think I’ve learned a lot from him. So for my first point to be from him is pretty special. And then with Auston, we had a little sleepover on Sunday, so we might have to have a weekly sleepover now.
“I’ve learned so much from those two. They’ve been very special to me. They’ve helped me a lot. Just being around those guys, learning from them, seeing how they carry themselves every single day on and off the ice is kind of implemented into me in a way.”
Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Through four games, McKenna, Matthews and Tavares have combined for 10 points, split into four goals and six assists. Matthews leads the trio in both categories with two and three, respectively.
Toronto improved to 2-2-0 and will next face the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET.
