Three goals down, then one rookie’s shot changed the night. Gavin McKenna scored his first NHL goal as Toronto climbed back from a 3-0 hole, and Auston Matthews finished the Maple Leafs’ 5-4 overtime win over Nashville with 14 seconds left Tuesday.
The Predators struck twice in the first period, then stretched the lead to 3-0 early in the second. John Tavares got Toronto moving, finishing a rush after McKenna helped spring him from the defensive zone. William Nylander’s power-play goal made it 3-2, but Steven Stamkos answered to restore Nashville’s two-goal cushion.
McKenna cut it to 4-3 at 14:31 of the second, taking a pass from Matthews and beating Juuse Saros with a shot from the right side. The 2026 No. 1 pick had gone without a point in his first three NHL games; now he had a goal and an assist, and Toronto had a pulse. Jack Roslovic supplied the equalizer midway through the third, finishing a stretch of pressure that kept the comeback alive.
There was still time for a false finish: Nylander appeared to put Toronto ahead late in the third, but Nashville’s offside challenge wiped it away. The Leafs had to wait for overtime, where Matthews buried the rebound of Nylander’s shot for the winner. Matthews finished with four points, while Nylander had three. Saros stopped 33 shots; Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves.
McKenna’s breakthrough arrived in a high-pressure comeback, not a quiet milestone moment. Toronto leaves with the win—and a fresh question for its next stretch: can the rookie’s first two points become the start of a lasting role beside the team’s established playmakers?
