Gavin McKenna Chases First NHL Point as Maple Leafs Host Predators

Gavin McKenna will take another run at his first NHL point when the Toronto Maple Leafs welcome the Nashville Predators to Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday. The first overall selection in the 2026 NHL Draft has three shots and is averaging 14:32 through three games, giving Toronto another young storyline on a nine-game night that also brings a Battle of New York, Patrick Kane’s Chicago homecoming and a Stanley Cup Playoff rematch in Montreal.

After the horn

McKenna’s fourth NHL outing comes with the Maple Leafs at 1-2-0. Toronto’s early scoring has been spread among William Nylander, Easton Cowan and Morgan Rielly, with each sitting on three points. Nylander has two goals and an assist, Cowan has a goal plus two helpers, and Rielly has set up three goals.

Nashville enters at 1-1-0 after getting its first win Saturday, a 2-1 result over the Dallas Stars.

Florida finishes its four-game opening road swing against the Los Angeles Kings without captain Aleksander Barkov, who went on long-term injured reserve Saturday with a lower-body injury. Lars Eller moved between Brady Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart on the Panthers’ top unit and had an assist in Sunday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

That game also marked Brad Marchand’s season debut. The veteran forward had missed Florida’s first two games while recovering from offseason surgery. The Panthers are 1-0-2 heading into Los Angeles.

The Kings, 0-1-1, are opening at home after conceding 13 goals over their first two contests. Their defensive structure gets a stern early check against a Florida club looking to leave California with a win.

At Madison Square Garden, Matthew Schaefer and the Islanders meet the Rangers in the first Battle of New York of the season. Schaefer, 19, has two assists in two games after winning the Calder Trophy last season. One goal would bring the defenseman level with Bobby Orr’s 24, the second-highest total recorded by a teenage NHL defenseman. Phil Housley leads that category with 46.

The Rangers have won three straight and bring a 3-1-0 mark into the rivalry game. Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 shots in Sunday’s 4-2 victory against the Utah Mammoth and added an assist. It followed his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 1, making him the first NHL goalie to record points in consecutive games since Connor Ingram did so with Utah from Feb. 6-9, 2025.

Shesterkin can join rare company with another point. Henrik Lundqvist, Ed Belfour and Tom Barrasso are the only NHL goaltenders to produce a point in three straight appearances. Lundqvist did it in 2010-11, Belfour in 2001-02, and Barrasso accomplished it twice, in 1984-85 and 1988-89.

Chicago’s home opener puts Patrick Kane back in front of the United Center crowd for his first regular-season home game since Feb. 21, 2023. Kane signed a two-year deal with the Blackhawks on July 23, returning to the franchise where he spent his first 16 NHL seasons and won Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

He was dealt to the Rangers roughly a week after his last Chicago home date, then spent the past three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. The Blackhawks are 0-3-0 entering Tuesday, while St. Louis is 1-1-0 and has received early offense from Jimmy Snuggerud, with a goal and an assist, and Dalibor Dvorsky, who has scored twice.

Montreal’s meeting with Carolina is the first since the Hurricanes ended the Canadiens’ 2026 playoff run in the Eastern Conference Final. Montreal won the opener 6-2, but Carolina took the next four games, then carried that momentum to the Stanley Cup.

The Canadiens are 1-0-1 behind Nick Suzuki’s four points in two outings, including one goal. Suzuki is chasing a second straight 100-point season, something no Montreal player has done since Guy Lafleur put together six in a row from 1974 through 1980.

Carolina is 1-1-1 and still has much of its championship core intact. Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jordan Staal remains in the group, while Sebastian Aho has three goals and an assist and Andrei Svechnikov has three assists.

Tuesday’s slate