The Toronto Maple Leafs lost yet another game on home ice, and yet another game against a divisional opponent. This time, a 4-2 loss at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
William Nylander and Gavin Mckenna scored two goals to spark a comeback effort that ultimately fell short. Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves on 28 shots.
Gavin McKenna's rollercoaster season continued on Saturday night
On Saturday night, we got the full McKenna experience and had a glimpse into why head coach Jim Hiller has been easing the rookie in through the first month and change of the season.
McKenna had two turnovers that resulted in Montreal goals, and scored his sixth of the season in the third period to cut the Canadiens' lead to 3-2 with 13 minutes left.
"I thought we honestly played a pretty solid game. But a couple of turnovers, two by myself, that's what killed us," McKenna said after the game.
The second of the two turnovers was perhaps the toughest to swallow, which resulted in a Chris Kreider breakaway goal.
"I saw McCabe coming down the wall hard, in the middle; I thought I could get it to him. Obviously, that wasn't the play. Yeah, unfortunate. It was a tough one.
"I obviously knew that was a mistake. I knew I was going to probably sit for that one. My teammates in the second intermission came and talked to me. Jim (Hiller) pulled me aside and talked to me. He said he was going to get me out there again. I appreciated that from him. Honestly, it fired me up."
The move to put McKenna "back out there" was certainly different to decisions we have seen throughout the season, but it paid off.
"That one felt good," the 18-year-old said of the goal. "Would have felt little better if we'd won."
Leafs are handling McKenna the right way
When it comes to all of this McKenna stuff, here's my personal opinion, if it even means anything.
McKenna is a first overall pick of a flagship hockey team in the NHL. Expectations will be high, and the magnify glass will be out nightly. That's just part of rookie life in the big city.
Personally, I think Hiller and the Leafs have been handling the kid the right way. Sure, McKenna on Matthews' wing would be awesome to see night after night, but defensively, he just can't hang with the opposing team's top units. At least not consistently. We saw on Saturday that his decision-making is still a work in progress
As for the power play, I do think McKenna did enough to stay on the first unit, but John Tavares didn't do anything to remove himself from it other than get hurt. However, after a four-minute power play to end the game resulted in nothing, I don't think this debate is even close to over.
Leafs need a Jacob Fowler-like performance from Bobrovsky
The Canadiens were the better team in this one, but the Leafs had a plethora of great chances, and netminder Jacob Fowler shut the door on all of them, which gave time for his teammates to build a 3-0 lead.
I'm not putting the loss on Bobrovsky, despite him letting in at least three goals once again against Montreal. However, what we saw from Fowler is what the Leafs have been missing for the first month of the season. Even after the Canadiens' lead was cut to 3-2, Fowler made key saves throughout the period to secure the win.
Too often in Bobrovsky's starts, the Leafs are playing catch-up. Whether he should have had certain goals or not, it feels like the Maple Leafs rarely have time to build a lead. The blame can be spread throughout the lineup, but sometimes the goalie needs to buy his team time, and he's just not doing that.
Up next for Maple Leafs
This six-game homestand for the Maple Leafs continues on Sunday night against the New Jersey Devils. They host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, and wrap it up against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
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