Four different skaters found the back of the net for Nashville, but the Predators ultimately fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs by a 7-4 final on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena. The result sees the Preds suffer their first regulation loss of the season as they split a back-to-back set in the province of Ontario.
Michael McCarron, Erik Haula, Roman Josi and Nick Perbix all tallied for Nashville on the night, but the Maple Leafs capitalized on their chances as well before adding a pair of empty-netters to finish the fourth game of the young campaign.
“Probably gave up a little bit more than we wanted to…a couple weird bounces for them, but in saying that, we maybe shot ourselves in the foot a little bit,” McCarron said. “We gave up too many chances against. At the same time, we scored four goals, good PK. You're going to run into some good teams here. I thought we played well for the most part. We stuck to our game plan, but we played a solid game there. Like I just said, there were a couple breakdowns that obviously you would want back, but it’s still early in the year, we're learning, and we can take a lot from this game positively.”
“A little bit slow early, but we got to our game in the second period,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought we played fast, thought we got in there, and we had some opportunities. [The] third goal [for Toronto] is a little bit of a killer. We had three guys around the front of the net, and they tapped home an easy one… But [our group] didn't quit. They didn't deviate from how we're supposed to play, and we kept going at them… All in all, happy with the group, happy with the game. Didn’t go our way, things to work on, things to learn, but we'll move on.”
The opening period belonged to Toronto on the scoresheet with goals from defensemen Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but as the second stanza began, Nashville found life.
First, a shot from Brady Skjei found its way to the net with McCarron in front, and the 6-foot-6 centerman poked home a loose puck just before it trickled over the line to get the Preds on the board. Just 44 seconds later, Ozzy Wiesblatt - who was skating in his first game of the season - created a turnover on the forecheck and dished a beautiful backhand pass to Haula who buried his second of the season to even the score at 2-2.
But the Maple Leafs took the lead once more less than five minutes later when John Tavares beat Predators goaltender Justus Annunen, and Bobby McMann put Toronto back up by two before the middle frame was out.
Auston Matthews made it 5-2 Toronto midway through the third, and after Josi’s floater from the point found its way past Cayden Primeau, the Leafs added their first of two empty-netters. Perbix then potted his first as a member of the Preds with just 1:11 to play in regulation before the home team finished the night.
“There were times when I thought we carried the play and we looked great,” Perbix said. “We were pressing on them, leaning on them, and then we just kind of gave something up. There's a team over there [that will] capitalize on almost every opportunity you give them. So we’ve got to tighten that up.”
“We were very much in that game,” McCarron said. “They played well. We played well. We stuck to our game plan, we put pucks in, we had good forechecks, we had a lot of really good o-zone time. I think we can find a way to get a little bit more inside. We had some inside goals tonight, but if we can find a way to get a little bit more inside consistently, and more shots at the net, maybe not looking for that perfect play, I think our game’s in a really good spot. We just continue to roll line after line. It's just one of those games where you don't come up with the two points, but you can take a lot away from the game that was good.”
The Preds will now head to Montreal to face the Canadiens on Thursday, and although there are things to correct, they’ll also look to build off of another effort with plenty of positives to start the season.
“You just got to flush it, got to move on from this one,” Perbix said. “Obviously, we'll do some video, learn from this, from the mistakes we made, and build off the stuff that we did good, because I do believe there was plenty of good that we did out there.”
“We're trying to build, trying to get better, trying to take that extra step, and we're climbing up the ladder a little bit, meaning, I like the way our game's coming,” Brunette said. “We got away from us a little bit tonight at different times where we gave them a little bit too many [chances], too much free offense… They’ve got some high-end players that make some high-end plays. But we can be better. We will be better.”
Notes:
Ozzy Wiesblatt finished with two assists and one shot in 9:30 of ice time in his first game of the season for the Preds. Forwards Joakim Kemell and Brady Martin, as well as defenseman Nick Blankenburg, were scratched for Nashville.
Michael McCarron and Erik Haula scored 44 seconds apart. The Predators (also 0:42 on Oct. 13) are the only team to score two goals in a one-minute span multiple times this season.
The Predators will now head north to the province of Quebec for a date with the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night before concluding their Canada swing in Winnipeg on Saturday.
