Gavin McKenna’s first night in the NHL came with the kind of learning curve that tends to greet even the most hyped prospects.
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ top pick finished minus-2 in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, a debut that included 15:19 of ice time, two giveaways and one shot on goal across 18 shifts.
“Not my best but, yeah, I think I’m glad we’re playing again tomorrow,” McKenna told reporters.
Toronto gave McKenna a real look right away. He started on the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander, then later shifted to the third line after Easton Cowan moved up. McKenna also logged 2:33 on the power play, though the Leafs came up empty on four chances with the man advantage.
The game itself swung quickly. Nylander put Toronto in front just under a minute into the night, but Montreal answered with three straight goals from Alexandre Carrier, Zack Bolduc and Josh Anderson to build a 3-1 lead late in the third period. Nylander’s second goal of the game cut the deficit with a few minutes left, but Toronto couldn’t complete the comeback.
The Leafs took McKenna with the No. 1 overall pick after winning the draft lottery.
He arrived in the NHL after a strong run at Penn State, where he posted 15 goals and 51 points in 35 games last season. The year before that, he piled up 41 goals and 129 points with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Hockey League and helped them win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions.
McKenna had one assist and four shots on goal in two preseason games.
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