The Toronto Maple Leafs battled towards securing a point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken.
The Leafs worked their tails off to tie the game on three separate occasions, in large part due to John Tavares. The veteran centre showed off a rocket release on his first of the night, and found the back of the net to tie the game 3-3 on the power play with just over a minute in the third period. Tavares played 17:11 and it’s become crystal clear early on this season that he has plenty left in the tank.
It was also a milestone evening for Tavares as he collected his 500th point as a Maple Leaf. Tavares also joined Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, and Ron Francis as the only four players in NHL history to record 500 points with two different franchises. There’s no denying the fact he was the Leafs’ best player against the Kraken.
500 POINTS FOR JOHNNY!!! 😤 pic.twitter.com/72MXh7uIoo
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 19, 2025
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Head coach Craig Berube had the blender out as the Maple Leafs’ lines were as fluid as ever. Easton Cowan started the game on the top line and finished on the fourth. Cowan was replaced by William Nylander on the top line as it was obvious Berube was searching for a spark of some sort. Berube moved Nick Robertson up to the second line with Tavares, which was a nice reward for Robertson, who showed off his work ethic during his 12:18 of ice-time. With the Robertson trade rumours swirling, it will be interesting to see what happens these next couple of weeks. Dakota Joshua had strong game, mostly on the Leafs’ fourth line, and finished the contest with seven hits and two blocked shots. He almost tucked one in during the second period, and is still in search of his first as a Leaf.
Berube split Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev up, swapping in Brandon Carlo. It’s become quite obvious early on this season that Berube is still searching a combination he likes and the lineup will continue to be fluid throughout the first month of the season.
Carlo was battling with Kraken forward Jaden Schwartz in front, which resulted in a pile up in front of Anthony Stolarz, and a Kraken second-period goal. That was the first time Stolarz was bumped in front, but it didn’t compare to what Mason Marchment had in store later in the game:
Anthony Stolarz has had enough pic.twitter.com/8pLIq0yZCC
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 19, 2025
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Stolarz was on his game once again on Saturday night as he made 24 saves against the Kraken. It was great to see him stand up for himself after getting demolished by Marchment, and it was an even better site to see him get up unharmed. Stolarz continues to be called upon a lot during the Leafs’ current busy stretch, and any setback in the injury department could be devasting to the team.
Matias Maccelli had a tough game. Early on he made a horrible decision with a spin-a-rama behind the back pass at the Kraken’s blueline, which led to a turnover. He quickly followed that up by going offside, and wound up turning the puck over a few more times with some sloppy plays. Maccelli would eventually be bumped down to the third line by Berube, and he’ll need to turn things around here quick. Right now it feels like he doesn’t have a ‘home’ in the lineup, but you could say that about a few others as well at this point.
The Maple Leafs move to 3-2-1 on the season and host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. While they showed a ton of character against the Kraken to come back three times, there’s plenty of work to do, which is to be expected just six games into the new season.