Leafs' Dennis Hildeby shares reaction to own goal from Troy Stecher that kickstarted the Oilers' comeback win

The scoreboard might not reflect it, but the Toronto Maple Leafs were in a very tight and close matchup against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. In the end, they were soundly defeated by a score of 6-3, which was aided by 2 back-breaking goals at the start of the third, but also an own goal in the middle of the second period.

With the Maple Leafs up 2-1, Connor McDavid was credited with his 2nd of the night courtesy of an own goal by defenseman Troy Stecher.

It was such a tough break for the newcomer as McDavid's centering pass from behind the net went right to the tape of Stecher, who then directly scored in his own goal as he attempted to clear it away in one fell swoop.

Stecher immediately apologized to his goaltender, who was playing very well up until that point. Unfortunately, you can make the argument that it jump started the comeback as the Oilers scored 5 straight goals to take an insurmountable 6-2 lead to the final minute.

Asked about the play post-game, Hildeby showed no ill-will towards his teammate, and acknowledged that he was trying to do the right thing, which was quickly clearing out McDavid's pass attempt to a streaking Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

It was a tough pill to swallow for both players, considering how well they've played under the circumstances over the last few weeks. Stecher came into last night's game with 4 points in 11 games with a plus-4 rating in 20:12 ATOI.

Conversely, Hildeby had been lights out in goal with a .933 SV% in 10 games before being puled in relief of Artur Akhtyamov on Saturday.

The Maple Leafs will look to get back into the win column on Tuesday night when they play host to the Chicago Blackhawks, who could be without star centre Connor Bedard. Expect Hildeby to bounce back with another start in goal, unless Joseph Woll is ready to return from his lower-body injury.