'I Put It More On Us': Sergei Bobrovsky Struggles In Loss To Kraken But Maple Leafs Teammates Weren't Great, Either

SEATTLE — The Maple Leafs watched a hard-earned point slip away in the final half-minute Wednesday night, as Brandon Montour’s slap shot from the top of the right circle beat Sergei Bobrovsky with 34 seconds remaining and gave the Seattle Kraken a 5-4 win at Climate Pledge Arena.

Bobrovsky stopped only 12 of the 17 shots he faced, a .706 save percentage that stands in stark contrast to the standards he set as a two-time Vezina Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion. Through nine starts prior to Wednesday he had posted a 3-4-2 record with a 3.09 goals-against average and .897 save percentage, numbers already well below his career marks of 2.61 and .912. This performance dropped the trajectory further still.

The 38-year-old did not hide from the decisive sequence. 

“I thought I could help on the last goal for sure,” Bobrovsky said afterward. “He had the good shot above the puck.” 

He described the night as a “good challenge” mentally and insisted he remains focused on process: reset, regroup, prepare for the next shot. 

“It’s a long season,” he noted. “All I can care about is the next shot.”

Head coach Jim Hiller never considered a change in net during Bobrovsky’s appearance.

“Not at all,” Hiller said when asked if he weighed pulling Bobrovsky at any point. Hiller acknowledged the final goal was one Bobrovsky would want back, while noting two others arrived via deflections, one off a toe, another off a stick, that limited the goalie’s options. 

Auston Matthews also came to Bobrovsky’s defense.

“Every now and then there's going to be a couple that you want back. But, you know, in the end, I put it more on us. You know, 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.”

Seattle generated 2.47 expected goals to Toronto’s 1.93 despite the Leafs holding a 52-44 edge in shot attempts and outshooting the Kraken roughly 21-17. 

That gap points to quality over quantity: the Leafs surrendered higher-danger looks relative to the volume they faced. Hiller pointed to specific structural issues: two two-on-ones, three or four breakout turnovers in the first period that led to scoring chances, and one that produced a goal. Outside those “six or seven key breakdowns,” he felt the team kept Seattle to the outside and competed hard.

Compounding the issues for Toronto was the continued absence of two significant pieces. John Tavares remains week-to-week with a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the past six games. Kirill Marchenko, acquired from Columbus in September and already third on the team with 14 points in 14 games, is also week-to-week after leaving Monday’s loss in Calgary. Hiller noted that Tavares and Marchenko are 18- and 19-minute players when healthy; replacing that volume of ice time is not a simple plug-and-play exercise. 

The result has been line combinations still settling, with rookie Gavin McKenna elevated alongside Matthews.

That pairing produced the evening’s clearest positive for the Leafs. McKenna scored twice on the power play and added an assist on Matthews’ tying goal with 1:30 remaining, finishing with three points. The 18-year-old McKenna became the youngest Maple Leaf in more than 80 years to record a multi-goal game.

The Leafs have pointed to Bobrovsky historically being a slow starter and that’s definitely true. But there is always the risk that giving a two-time Stanley Cup winner the benefit of the doubt could come back to bite them.

Bobrovsky’s play is just one of many issues facing the Leafs at the moment. Injuries, defensive play, a lack of quality offense generated at 5-on-5 are big problems the Leafs have to work to correct. Until now, the goaltender, who signed a three-year deal worth $21 million this summer, will have to start turning out performances where he's the difference-maker sooner rather than later.

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