Maple Leafs’ Bobrovsky allows last-minute goal in loss to Kraken

SEATTLE — In Bob they trust.

But those observing the Toronto Maple Leafs from afar aren’t so sure.

Not after Sergei Bobrovksy allowed three goals on the Calgary Flames first 12 shots Monday and helped the club dig a hole it couldn’t crawl out from.

Not after the NHL’s oldest No. 1 goaltender allowed five more on just 17 Seattle Kraken shots Wednesday. What was supposed to be a bounce-back start resulted in his worst performance as a Leaf (.706 save percentage).

And not after you realize the future Hall of Famer with the $7 million AAV has allowed three or more goals in nine of his 10 starts and has only won three of them (3-5-2).

But unlike after Bobrovsky’s questionable performance in Alberta, the goaltender took more ownership.

“I thought guys played well. You know, we deserved a point at least.

It was good game. Was good mental challenge.

And I thought I could help in the last goal, for sure,” Bobrovsky said, after Seattle’s Brandon Montour blasted the 5-4 winner right through him with a scant 32 seconds remaining on the clock.

“Good shot above the pad.”

But a stoppable shot, and one of just three shots a depleted but stingy Maple Leafs defence allowed to reach their goalie’s net in an emotional third period that saw Auston Matthews tie the game 6-on-5 just 53 seconds prior to Montour’s blast.

“Well, you can imagine, right? Everybody’s pretty excited when we tie it, and then it's just a dagger when the last one goes in,” said coach Jim Hiller, loath to critique his goaltending publicly.

“I thought (Bobrovsky) was alright. The last one, he probably would want that one back, but one goes off a toe, one goes off a stick.”

One came before the game was two minutes old. One beat him far side from a tough angle.

Three came less than two minutes, and muted momentum, after the Leafs’ star forwards worked to tie a back-and-forth, low-event affair.

“It’s tough. I think despite not being that pretty of a game, you work so hard to get yourself back into it and tie the game up and hopefully come out of here with at least one point.

Just a breakdown, and they're coming down the dot lane with a pretty good D-man taking a slap shot right at our goalie,” said Matthews. “It definitely stings.

But there's nothing that we can do now.”

Added Gavin McKenna: “Very calm goalie in the net. And you don't really see him get too high or too low, which is a good thing.”

With two days off coming, Hiller could have made a goalie switch to Anthony Stolarz (4-1) mid-game. How seriously did the coach consider a pull?

“Not at all,” Hiller replied.

To a man, the Maple Leafs are backing theirs.

“Bob's been great. I mean, he's been great for us all year long,” Matthews said.

“Every now and then there's going to be a couple you want back. But in the end, I put it more on us as a five-man unit, not doing enough to help him out in certain situations where they're coming down and getting Grade-A chances.”

Bobrovsky, we’ll remind, has two Stanley Cup rings, two Vezina trophies, and two more years after this one on his contract.

He is a quiet presence. But doubts swirling around him are getting louder.

“We were looking at it the other day. He’s historically a slow starter.

I think this is his best start — if you look at some (data) adjustments in the last four to five years. You need to win points, and you need to have a good start to the season,” GM John Chayka said Monday.

“Sergei, we brought him in to be there when the pressure ramps up and we need a rock back there. So, he's moving well.

He's doing a lot of great things. It's been great to have him in the locker room, around the guys.

And his presence and his detail and his preparation and his approach to wins, approach to losses, it doesn't really change. So, there's a lot of really good things there.”

Great things continue to happen with the Maple Leafs’ special teams. They killed four of five penalties and kept clawing back into this one on the strength of a two-for-three power-play, a four-on-four strike, and clutch executive six-on-five.

Gavin McKenna (two goals and an assist) became youngest Leaf in more than 80 years with a multi-goal effort, and he and Matthews linked up for three of Toronto’s goals.

“When you're playing with a guy like that, it makes it pretty easy. He's an unbelievable player.

Sees the ice very well,” McKenna said. “I think teams favoured him a little bit with his shot, and that might open up a little bit of space for me.

So, he's fun to play with, and I thought we played well.”

Matthews credits McKenna’s positioning to get shots off on the power play: “I just tried to find a lane to get it to him, and he did the rest.”

And yet? Even with the power play clicking and the defence tightening to the tune of 17 shots allowed, the Leafs fly north without a point.

“Both teams played good games, and it comes down to the last 30 seconds, so it's a frustrating one,” McKenna said. “That's one we definitely want back.”

One that will fuel detractors of the Bobrovsky contract, which runs till he turns 40. Plenty of time for the goalie to find his groove, to make good on all that trust.

“I feel good. You know, I feel strong,” Bobrovsky said.

“There is mistakes sometimes here and there, but overall I feel confident. You know, I feel good.

And all I care about is next shot.”

Reset, regroup, rebound. Or reconsider the Stolarz-Bobrovsky split?

“It’s emotions,” Bobrovsky said. “Over the course of the long season in the NHL, there is different things could happen.

I’m gonna stay consistent. I’m gonna stay focused.

And I’m gonna keep working. You know, I never get easy anything in this league, and I didn't expect it's gonna be easy for me.

So, all I care about is focus on the next shot.”

• Did Bobby McMann catch up with his old Leafs pals the night before facing the team that traded him away?

“No, they were busy with a group dinner,” McMann said. “It’s actually not many guys, though, that I would even be able to catch up with because it’s a very limited roster compared to what it was last year.”

McMann’s regular dining crew last season consisted of Simon Benoit, Matthew Knies, and Joseph Woll. Their entire table for four got traded.

Known mostly for his speed, McMann is flexing his physicality in Seattle. He leads all Kraken with 26 hits and is tracking a career high in the category.

“Trying to be as physical as I can, getting in guys’ way. It's not always trying to go through guys.

It's trying to make it hard on them, make sure they can't get up the ice, make sure I'm ahead of the D,” he explains. “All those things are important in winning hockey.”

• Fourth line is the new third line?

Not only did Hiller throw out his newfound identity line of Teddy Blueger, Brandon Duhaime, and Zack MacEwen to set the tone off the opening faceoff but that group saw more ice than the hodgepodge trio of Colton Sissons, Vinni Lettieri, and Bo Groulx.

“You’re gonna see that line, as long as they continue to play like this, take on a bigger and bigger role,” Hiller said. “A role maybe that we didn’t expect two weeks ago.”

• Seattle’s Lane Lambert on surviving the scrutiny in Toronto: “I was an associate coach, so Craig Berube took most of the brunt.”

• Matthews has been more productive against the Kraken than any other team in the league. With his goal and two assists Wednesday, he’s now averaging 1.64 points per game against Seattle.

• Next stop for McKenna’s first western tour: Vancouver, the closest thing to a homecoming for the pride of Whitehorse.

“Yeah, I’m excited,” he says. “I’ve seen a couple Canucks games growing up, so to now be playing in one, that’s gonna be super cool.

And then to have some family in the building and be kinda close to home, it’ll be super special. I'm looking forward to playing in front of those people and hopefully having a good night.”

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