TORONTO — For all the changes made by the Toronto Maple Leafs over the off-season, a sweeping top-to-bottom overhaul in an effort to rally back into the playoffs, the hockey team finds itself right where it was a year ago: 8-8-2 through their first 18 games and near the Atlantic floor.

As Bill Parcells said, “You are what your record says you are.”

After chants of “Olé! Olé! Olé!” from Montreal Canadiens fans rang out through Scotiabank Arena Saturday, the buzzer sounded on a 4-2 win by Toronto’s most historic rival.

“We honestly played a pretty solid game. But, yeah, a couple turnovers, two by myself, and I think that’s just what killed us,” said teenage Gavin McKenna, whose blade burned at both ends.

A McKenna own-zone giveaway led to Alex Newhook’s opening strike. Newhook tipped in a second off a sustained Canadiens cycle started by a Bandon Duhaime turnover. And McKenna’s cross-ice pass in the D-zone sprung Chris Kreider for the second period’s 3-0 breakaway winner.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot a little bit,” said John Tavares, making his return after missing nine games due to a lower-body injury.

Sure, McKenna scored and the Maple Leafs rallied to inject intrigue in the third. But Jacob Fowler was better than Sergei Bobrovsky, and Toronto’s bed was already made.

“I obviously knew that it was a mistake, and I knew I was gonna probably sit for that one. My teammates in the second intermission came in, talked to me, and Jim (Hiller) pulled me aside and talked to me,” McKenna explained. 

“He said he was gonna get me out there again, which felt good. So, I appreciated that from him. And honestly, it fired me up. So, just an unfortunate bounce.”

McKenna’s rookie campaign feels like a microcosm of the team’s: creative and threatening in the O-zone but too often nervy and indecisive defensively.

“You can’t do it. You can’t continue to do it. You know what I mean?” Hiller said. “But he’s a great young player. Bounced back. Good attitude. All that kind of stuff. Trying, learning, come a long way. So, it’s all good. It’s just tough sometimes.”

Tough, too, is the steady trickle of injuries to key players. 

Tough, Hiller is learning by trial and error, is finding any line beyond Auston Matthews’ top unit that can sustain pressure, strike chemistry, and deliver a consistent scoring punch.

And tough is watching Bobrovsky give up three or more goals in 11 of his 12 starts.

“We all trust him, and we all believe in him, and we all got his back,” McKenna said.

Toronto has fallen to 0-2 against Montreal and 0-3-1 against its Atlantic Division opponents. All four of those losses came at home. 

Meanwhile, the Canadiens are a perfect 5-0-0 versus the Atlantic and own the NHL’s best divisional record.

The season isn’t yet a quarter over, but Saturday’s loss has piled an unusual amount of early-November pressure for the Leafs to gain points against New Jersey, Colorado, Minnesota, and Edmonton on this six-game homestand.

“Urgency always has to be high. Points are too valuable in the league,” Tavares said.

And too hard to come by for a group that is on track for just 84 of them.

“We need to start winning games here,” McKenna pressed. “Each guy in this room has got to hold themselves accountable to being prepared.

“Even me, being a young guy, I can try and influence that a little bit. Have better starts to the games, and then hopefully that can kind of snowball to my teammates.”

On the night Tavares returned, Morgan Rielly suffered a non-contact lower-body injury in the second period and did not return. Hiller offered no update on the severity of the defenceman’s injury postgame, only noting that it’s never a good sign when a player doesn’t finish.

Dakota Mermis would suit up Sunday if Rielly can’t play.

“He’s had a really good, probably three weeks, as good as I’ve seen in a long time. Really, he’s been helping us. And his confidence is back,” Hiller said. “It’s a big blow.”

• Although Tavares has played some wing with the national team, he reminded reporters that centre is “my natural position.” Hiller gave the veteran a heads-up over the summer that he might see some time on the left side.

“I don’t know if I look at it as helping my game,” Tavares said of being shifted to wing.

• Hiller decided to keep right-shot Jack Roslovic on the top power-play unit, so it was McKenna who got dropped to PP2 upon Tavares’s return. 

Even though the rookie led all Leafs with three power-play goals during Tavares’s nine-game absence.

“I’m 18 years old,” McKenna reminded. “There’s a lot of guys in this team who’ve been in this league for a long time and know how to play that power-play. So, when you see a guy like John come on and take your spot, you’re not too butthurt about it. He’s obviously very smart. And, for me, even being on a second power-play in the NHL, that feels pretty good.”

• As was the case during their first back-to-back of the season, the Leafs recalled goalie Artur Akhtyamov to back up Saturday and Sunday.

The move gives Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz each a full night off. I like it. Hiller is loath to make a goalie change mid-game during back-to-backs anyway. This gives him an option.

• McKenna on Sunday’s Hall of Fame Game: “That’ll be super cool. A lot of legends at the game, so hopefully I can put on a show for them.”