Preds' Top Defense Delivers Shut Out of Leafs' Fearsome Offense

Some regular-season games mean more than others.
On Monday night at Scotiabank Arena, two juggernauts squared off with the Nashville Predators landing all the punches and shutting out the Maple Leafs, 4-0. Two preseason picks by many to reach the Stanley Cup Final, Nashville's top-ranked defense blanked Toronto's top-three offense, featuring a season low in shots allowed at 18.
The result gives the Preds five out of a possible six points thus far as they hit the halfway point of their six-game road trip, and on this occasion, Pekka Rinne was perfect, as were his teammates.

"It's a great effort," Predators defenseman P.K. Subban said. "Our past two games is Preds hockey. That's the way we play when we're playing our best. We did a good job of limiting their top players' opportunities. The past two games, our sticks have been unbelievable in all three zones, and that's a big part of the reason why I think we won this game today."
"We knew we were going have to compete hard and compete hard on the puck," Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. "We probably gave up a few too many chances in the first period, and Peks had to make some really big saves. I thought we tightened it down after that, but a really good team win, really good team game tonight."

The game's opening 20 minutes went scoreless, but in the second stanza, a pair of blasts from the blueline gave the Preds the only lead they'd need.
First, it was Mattias Ekholm who hammered home his fifth of the season on the power play, and then, P.K. Subban converted for the second time on the road trip, this time to give his club a 2-0 lead in his hometown.
Toronto thought they had tied the game mere moments after Ekholm's goal, but the Predators video team of Lawrence Feloney and Andrew Meloche made the call to challenge for offside, and just like that, the Leafs were back off the board.

Colton Sissons and Kevin Fiala added tallies late in the third to give the Preds back-to-back, four-goal efforts, and Rinne shut the door to collect his 54th career shutout.
"It was a great team win," Rinne said. "Especially the third period, we played really solid and defended really well. We were able to create more opportunities for ourselves and got the job done, and the penalty kill did a great job. They have a really good power play, so we have to be happy with this win."
Filip Forsberg returned to the Nashville lineup on Monday after missing the past 17 games with a lower-body injury, posting three shots on goal in more than 13 minutes of ice time.
"Filip looked really good," Laviolette said. "He looked like he was ready to roll."

From here, the Predators will make their way to Chicago as their trip continues, and after a slip up in Detroit to start, they've played the kind of hockey they expect of themselves. Now, they have to keep it up.
"It was a good couple games, but we've got a lot of work left to do on this road trip," Laviolette said. "We're going into another back-to-back situation, and then have to hit Carolina after that, so we have to keep pushing. We gave up some wins on the road back a couple months ago, and we have to try and fight for that road record again."
"That's huge for us," Rinne said of the last two wins. "It's not long ago when we really struggled on the road, so these are huge for us. Especially mentally, confidence-wise, it's big to win on the road and in a building like this one with one of the top teams in the League. It gains some confidence for the group."

Notes:
Prior to Monday's game, the Predators placed forward Miikka Salomaki on Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury.
Matt Irwin skated in his 300th career game and recorded an assist on P.K. Subban's goal.
Nashville's six-game excursion continues on Wednesday night in Chicago against the Blackhawks (at 7 p.m. CT on NBCSN). The Preds will then jet to Columbus on Thursday before finishing up in Carolina on Sunday.