Tavares scores twice, Maple Leafs hang on against Predators

NASHVILLE --John Tavares had two goals and an assist for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday.

"I'm just trying to focus on playing well and executing through all three zones," Tavares said. "I trust my ability and my instincts to make plays."
Alex Kerfoot also scored, and Auston Matthews had two assists for the Maple Leafs (44-20-9), who were coming off a 5-3 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Joseph Woll made 23 saves in his first start since March 2.
Toronto is seven points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have played one more game, for second place in the Atlantic Division.
"I thought we were good again," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "I'd like to have scored more with the chances that we had to extend our lead and make it a little more comfortable there. You leave them within striking distance, and that's why they have a chance to get a push there in the third."

Tyson Barrie had a goal and an assist, and Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves for the Predators (36-28-8), who were coming off a 7-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday and are 2-4-1 in their past seven games.
Nashville remained five points behind the Winnipeg Jets, who have played two more games, for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Forward Matt Duchene, who leads the Predators with 22 goals, left the game early in the second period after he was hit in the left hand by a shot from teammate Dante Fabbro. Predators coach John Hynes said Duchene is week to week with an upper-body injury.
"It was a good effort," Nashville forward Cody Glass said. "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. I felt like we crawled back into it. ... We were right there. I love the effort."

Tavares gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 18:06 of the first period with a power-play goal. Matthews sent a pass down to Mitchell Marner, who quickly bumped it to Tavares for a one-timer in front.
With the assist, Marner extended his point streak to 10 games (six goals, 11 assists).
Kerfoot made it 2-0 at 1:02 of the second period, receiving a pass from Tavares as he entered the zone before beating Lankinen glove side from the left circle.
Glass cut it to 2-1 at 12:37 of the third period, redirecting Barrie's shot from the point on a power play.
Tavares responded with another power-play goal to push it to 3-1 at 15:09. He swatted in the rebound of Morgan Rielly's one-timer from the point.
Barrie got Nashville back to within 3-2 at 18:18 when his slap shot from the left point deflected in off the stick of Toronto defenseman Justin Holl.
Barrie has nine points (three goals, six assists) in 14 games since being acquired in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 28.
"Tyson has done a good job," Hynes said. "I give him a lot of credit. He's playing more minutes and more different situations than he did when he was in Edmonton. ... He's stepped right in. He's battling every night. He's got a great energy about him just in and around the room."

Toronto outshot Nashville 24-13 in the final two periods.
"Sometimes you're pretty fortunate when you get a lot of action early on," Woll said. "It helps you really get into the game. It was just kind of how the game went. They had a lot early on, and I didn't see much the rest of the game. It was pretty awesome to see our team really take control."
NOTES:Marner played in his 500th NHL game. … Matthews extended his point streak to six games (five goals, five assists). … Nashville went 1-for-4 on the power play after going 0-for-17 in its previous seven games.