No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna scores first NHL goal for Toronto Maple Leafs

Gavin McKenna has experienced scoring slumps in the past.

This one felt different.

The No.

1 overall pick at the 2026 NHL draft was held at bay through his first three games for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The spotlight playing for an Original Six franchise in hockey's biggest media market is intense — and McKenna found himself under that glare after an uneven start to his professional career.

The 18-year-old winger shook off that weight Tuesday.

McKenna scored his first professional goal after adding an assist for his first point as the Maple Leafs roared back from a 3-0 deficit early in the second period to down the Nashville Predators 5-4 in overtime.

"Big monkey off the back," said the Whitehorse product.

"That one felt good.

That's a goal I'll obviously remember forever." McKenna opened his goal-scoring account at 14:31 of the second period in his fourth NHL game after taking a pass from Auston Matthews and ripping a shot upstairs on Predators netminder Juuse Saros to cut the Maple Leafs' deficit to 4-3.

"A goal-scorer's goal," Toronto head coach Jim Hiller said.

"By trade he's a playmaker, but that was a goal-scorer's goal.

Got his feet around it on the strong side, and he had some zip on it." "It was an important moment," Hiller added.

"He came up big in an important moment." McKenna then dropped to one knee in celebration before getting mobbed by his teammates.