TORONTO -- No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna and Russian winger Kirill Marchenko made their debuts -- along with seven other teammates -- on Tuesday night, when the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 3-2 to the Montreal Canadiens in the season opener for both clubs.
Following an offseason of change after the Original Six franchise missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade last spring, Toronto unveiled its new-look club on home ice, and McKenna was at the center of it all.
"Obviously, you want to get the win, but yeah, to get that first one under my belt, it feels good," McKenna said after the loss. "Looking forward to playing again [Wednesday]."
McKenna, 18, finished with one shot on net and two giveaways. He was a minus-2 with no points in 15:19 time on ice.
"Not great," he said when asked to judge his overall game. "I had a couple turnovers. I'm glad we're playing again [Wednesday], so I can bounce back and regroup. I'm just looking forward to getting going again."
Toronto will play the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.
For the victors, Josh Anderson and Alexandre Carrier each had a goal and assist as the Canadiens hung on. Zack Bolduc also scored for Montreal, which got 25 saves from Jakub Dobes.
William Nylander scored twice for Toronto. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots in his first game with the Maple Leafs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
