Preds Drop 3-2 Decision to Maple Leafs

The Nashville Predators lost a hard-fought battle, falling 3-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena.
Tyson Barrie had a two-point performance (1g-1a) and Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves in goal for the Predators, who moved to 36-28-8 on the season.
The loss saw the Predators finish their three-game homestand with a 1-2-0 record after recording a shootout win and a regulation loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

THE STORY

Toronto drew first blood with a powerplay goal late in the first period. Mitchell Marner drew a tripping penalty on Yakov Trenin before finding John Tavares in the slot on the man advantage to put the Leafs up 1-0 just 48 seconds into the power play at 18:06.
Alex Kerfoot snapped home a shot from the circle past to extend Toronto's lead to 2-0 at 1:02 of the second period.
Cody Glass got the Preds on the board at 12:37 of the third period, redirecting Barrie's shot from the point on a power-play to cut Toronto's lead in half.

Tavares responded with another power-play goal, knocking in the rebound of a Morgan Rielly one-timer at 15:09 to give the Leafs back the two-goal lead.
With Lankinen pulled for the extra attacker, a Barrie shot deflected in off the stick of Justin Holl and into the net to bring the Preds within one at 18:18. Despite a valiant effort in the final minutes of regulation, Nashville failed to convert and fell by a score of 3-2.

Matt Duchene exited the game in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return. His status is week-to-week.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Good Goaltending
Lankinen made 31 saves on 34 shots in his first start since March 19 at the New York Rangers, including this highlight-reel save:

The netminder faced 30 or more shots for the 12th time in 17 starts for Nashville this season.
Early Offense
The Predators recorded 12 shots in the first period against Toronto, including nine straight in the first five minutes of play. This comes after back-to-back slow starts against Seattle in which they generated just 11 shots through two periods on Saturday and 13 through two on Thursday.
Snapping the Skid
Glass' third-period tally snapped a power-play scoring drought for the Predators, who had gone 0-for-20 on the man advantage dating back to March 14 vs. Detroit.

THEY SAID IT

Colton Sissons on Nashville's effort in the loss:
"I thought the effort was good all night. Obviously we made a push there at the end. Unfortunately we gave one up on the power play late and that really hurt, but I'm proud of the guys. We don't typically have too many off nights as far as competitiveness and effort is concerned. So we've just got to keep grinding here."
Glass on Nashville's effort in the loss:
"It was a good effort. Obviously we lose [Duchene] in the second period, so that hurts a lot. We have a young group, and it was kind of one of those adversity things where guys have got to step up and that's kind of what this whole thing has been about. So I felt like we crawled back into it… If we score one more [power-play goal], it could be a totally different game. So we're right there. I loved the effort and we just kind of got to build off it."

Glass on Nashville's luck:
"Brutal luck. You hate to see it, but then it's a good opportunity for younger guys to come up and get more playing time. But at the same time, you just wish that upon no one. Matt Duchene is a hell of a player, and he'll be missed out there. But like I said, you've just got to step up."
Glass on getting two out of a possible six points in the homestand:
"It sucks. I can't beat around the bush. But I think it's tough, especially against good teams. If we want to be a playoff team, we have to beat these teams. You have to beat Toronto, you have to beat Boston, you have to really show that you're capable of being in the playoffs by playing these teams and we've just got to take it one step at a time and kind of battle through."
Head Coach John Hynes on Nashville's effort in the loss:
"I really liked how our guys played tonight. We came out fast, played a faster game and our competitive level's where it needed to be on the puck. I thought we battled throughout the game. Obviously, you lose [Duchene] early in the game so you're short a forward… If you look at the Buffalo game and then the first Seattle game and then tonight's game, I think when you look at the speed of the game, competitiveness, the attention to detail, guys were really pulling together. So I give the guys a lot of props. We clawed back, battled back… So that's more of the recipe that we need to be able to have night in and night out."
Hynes on Nashville's resilience in the face of losses and injuries:
"The one thing about this group is that there's always a response, the lessons are learned and I'm giving the guys a lot of credit because they continue to battle. They're resilient. They play together. You're going to have nights where it doesn't go your way, but what I've really liked about this group is there's always a response to do it the right way. And tonight we did."

Hynes on injuries creating opportunities for young players:
"It's unfortunate that we have the injuries we have… But I think you have to understand the situation you're in. What a great opportunity for the younger guys to be able to come in and play important roles and get this experience; and they're not just getting the experience. They're in there battling and they're playing some good hockey. We're right in games and, as I told the team, around the trade deadline, there were players that are either hurt or that have moved out of the organization that got the team to a level that was right around the playoffs. And then there's this group of guys that have basically played the last 15 games with a lot of lineup changes, but there's been a lot of guys, core players that have played since then that have really kept us right in the fight and they're doing a good job. Sometimes there's a bad night. But as I said, I think it's a great, great experience. It's really fun coaching them, you know, they're they're, they're competitive guys. I think a lot of them are taking advantage of their opportunities. The team's playing competitive hockey and that's what we need to do. So we're going to continue to move forward with the guys that are available. Unfortunately, you feel bad for the guys that aren't, but it's about the guys that are dressing every night, finding the recipe and the togetherness to be able to find ways to be competitive and win games and we're doing that. We've got to continue to move forward with that mindset."

UP NEXT

The Predators begin a two-game road trip on Tuesday with a visit to the Boston Bruins. The puck drops at 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.