Although the Toronto Maple Leafs controlled possession and shot creation throughout the night, they certainly won’t be happy after losing 4-3 in overtime to the Seattle Kraken. Josh Mahura netted the overtime winner for the Kraken, while Shane Wright, Jani Nyman and Vince Dunn also scored in the winning effort.
John Tavares scored twice for the Maple Leafs, recording his 500th point with the franchise on the latter goal. Morgan Rielly notched the other goal for the Maple Leafs. Aside from Tavares’ ascension through the team’s record books, this was a game to forget and goaltender Anthony Stolarz delivered a passionate critique of his team post-game.
Here are four takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ loss to the Kraken:
Anthony Stolarz has arguably been the team’s most valuable player through six games, so he’s certainly earned the right to call his teammates out. Stolarz was interfered with by Jaden Schwartz on Vince Dunn’s goal, but Schwartz was pushed into the net by Maple Leafs defenceman Brandon Carlo, thereby ruling out any potential penalty.
A minute after Dunn’s goal, Kraken forward Mason Marchment drove right into Stolarz again, and the Maple Leafs’ goaltender was fed up. Stolarz turned over the net and went after Marchment, while Carlo largely stood idly by. Toronto’s goaltender has seemingly been targeted by opposing teams after Florida’s Sam Bennett delivered a season-ending blow in Game 1 of the second round of the playoffs.
Stolarz called his team out after the game:
“I’m not happy. Guys are gonna run me and I’m gonna try to stand up for myself,” Stolarz said about the collision with Marchment. “ I heard the refs say we got a power play and there’s really not much I can do to him on the ground. Kudos to the guys who were there and got down with him, but I think we gotta start going into the cage a little harder, make it harder for their goalies. It’s not fun. I don’t like having 225 pound guys landing on me, so hopefully we learn a lesson here.”
Stolarz seemingly deals with more contact than any goalie in the league, he's fed up.
— Arun Srinivasan (@Arunthings) October 19, 2025
It wasn’t just the extracurriculars that Stolarz was irate about. Stolarz was clearly incensed about Auston Matthews and William Nylander’s lackadaisical backcheck on Mahura’s game-winning goal.
Mahura win it in OT
️: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/81nP9Ozzjc
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) October 19, 2025
“I mean, a lot of guys have been here for a while. Overtime, you can’t let someone beat you up the ice there and gets a clear-cut breakaway. A minute left, you want to be on the ice in that situation you gotta work hard. It cost us a point.”
Stolarz also provided some key instruction to his team and though there are still 76 games remaining, a better sense of urgency is required.
“We’re not making it difficult. We made it difficult in the third, and look what happened. We came out, tied the game, got a point out of it, almost scored with five seconds left. But it’s a little, too little, too late. And I think, you know, even though we’re six games into the season, enough’s enough and we kind of gotta start picking it up here.”
Tavares was the Maple Leafs’ best forward on Saturday, recording two goals and his 500th point with the Maple Leafs. It certainly reflects the passing of time as Tavares joined the Maple Leafs on Canada Day 2018, after spending the first nine years of his NHL career with the New York Islanders. Tavares also became the fourth player in NHL history to record 500 points with two different franchises.
500TH POINT AS A LEAF FOR JT!!!!!
️: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/B11jrrD4iu
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) October 19, 2025
“It’s hard to process it right now, considering the way the game finished for us. Obviously, I’ve been able to play for two great franchises and have the success I’ve had, it speaks volumes to my teammates, coaches, people that have been around me,” Tavares said.
Tavares could ascend through the Maple Leafs’ all-time points list this year, with a realistic chance of moving up to 12th and usurping Ted Kennedy on the list. He’s now three goals away from the 500-goal mark on his career and through the opening week of the season, Tavares is showing no signs of slowing down soon. It was a cool milestone for a player that has emphasized team success over individual accolades since returning home to Toronto in 2018.
Easton Cowan remained on the first line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies for most of the contest, although Craig Berube eventually put his lines in a blender to generate more offence. Cowan still hasn’t scored his first NHL goal and was held off the scoresheet Saturday, but he continues to do the little things well.
The 20-year-old drew two penalties in 12:48 of ice time, along with two shots, and a 67 percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5, the fourth-best share among the Maple Leafs. Cowan cut through centre ice for an excellent chance early in the second period, but he whiffed on the puck, while drawing his second penalty of the game, believing that he should’ve earned a penalty shot instead. You could almost view Cowan as a facsimile for Michael Bunting a few years ago, a high-end puck retrieval specialist with the ability to chip in some secondary scoring.
Berube opted to change up his lines, but it’s hard to assign fault to the Maple Leafs’ rookie forward, who should be on the top line for Tuesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils, although anything is within the realm of possibility this early in the year.
Morgan Rielly is in terrific form to start the year, and he recorded his second goal of the season on Saturday. Rielly intelligently read the play, jumped into the rush with Auston Matthews, taking a feed from the Maple Leafs’ captain and made no mistake during the first period to tie the game at 1-1.
MO TIES IT UP!!!!
️: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/aVMJeI82cf
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) October 18, 2025
Rielly led all Maple Leafs with five shots and eight shot attempts on Saturday, with a clear aim of adding some much-needed secondary scoring from the blue line. The 31-year-old is off to a great start to the year, where his activity off the rush is placing him back into elite territory.
“It’s early, but everyone wants to have a good start,” Rielly said post-game. “We’re at home here for a while, so it’s important that we’re focused and we’re trying to take advantage of that. There is a sense of urgency, even though it’s early. Guys want to bank some points and play well and win games.”
Morgan Rielly scores off-the-rush.
He now leads all defencemen with 6 scoring chances off-the-rush this season, in this his 6th game.
It took him until his 39th game last season to have that many. https://t.co/aNJcNLTwHv— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) October 18, 2025
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