2. After Buds take lead on powerplay goal in first, Preds bite back with man-advantage marker of their own to tie it. Toronto outshot the Preds 13-4 in the first 20 minutes of action, but discipline became an issue for the Buds later in the opening period and in the middle frame: the Leafs were assessed four consecutive minor penalties from the 6:23 mark of the first through the end of the second, and on their third power play of the game, the Predators evened the score on winger Viktor Arvidsson's 27th goal of the year.
The good news for Leafs fans is Toronto was able to kill off four of the five Preds man advantages, but five penalties through 40 minutes of play is not the PIMs-to-periods ratio Buds head coach Mike Babcock wants to see from his team.
3. In return to lineup, Matthews puts on stickhandling show before putting Leafs back in front.Centre Auston Matthews was playing in his first game since Feb. 22, and the skilled sophomore made a splash right away, taking a pass from D-man Morgan Rielly and putting on a stick-and-puck-handling show deep in the Preds' zone before ripping it into the upper area of Nashville's net to put Toronto ahead 2-1 at 15:06 of the second.
The secondary assist on the play went to van Riemsdyk, giving him and Rielly a two-point evening at that point in the contest, but the dazzle came from Matthews. It's difficult to adequately explain how creative and constantly fluid Matthews can be with the puck, but he regularly finds lanes and open areas - either on the ice or in his opponent's net - to take advantage of. This goal (Matthews' 29th of the season) was no exception.
4. Nylander makes most of fortunate bounce, bumps Toronto ahead by two goals before second intermission.The insertion of Matthews into Toronto's lineup meant he'd be playing with regular linemate William Nylander. And although Nylander was back on the wing after spending a lot of time at centre during Matthews' absence, he was equally dangerous against the Preds, amassing three shots on net through the first two periods and registering his 16th goal of the season with 3:16 left in the second frame to give the Buds a 3-1 lead entering the third.
Nylander had some good fortune helping him out on the scoring sequence, as a Toronto dump-in saw the puck bounce off a stanchion behind Preds goalie Pekka Rinne and out in front of Nashville's net, where Nylander fought off defenders to knock it across the goal line. Nylander nearly made it 4-1 on a late-period breakaway, but there's no doubt the 21-year-old - who now has two goals in his past three games and 53 points on the year - was a force for the Preds to reckon with throughout the night.
5. Marner sets new career highs with powerplay goal nine seconds into third; Leafs hold strong, add goal from Gardiner to return to win column. Winger Mitch Marner has also been a prolific point producer for Toronto recently, and the youngster broke both his goals and points total from his 2016-17 rookie campaign when he scored his 20th goal of the year just nine seconds into the third period to increase the Leafs' lead to 4-1 and make them 2-for-2 on the power play Thursday. Rielly had the primary assist on the goal to give him three points on the night, and the Buds' three-goal lead boded well for the rest of the game.
Defenceman Jake Gardiner added his fifth goal of the season at the 3:39, and the Leafs stayed in control for the remainder of regulation time to lock up their 44th win of the season and end their two-game road trip on a positive note. Toronto now has three games in a row at Air Canada Centre - Saturday against Detroit; Monday against Florida; and Wednesday against Buffalo - and if they hope to catch the Boston Bruins for second spot in the Atlantic Division, they'll need to be just as dialled-in as they were against the Preds.
