Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Jankowski found the back of the net, but the Nashville Predators fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs by a 3-2 final on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena. The result sees the Preds drop their fifth straight outing (0-2-3) after they allowed three goals in the first 5:06 of the third period, the moment the game turned out of their favor.
“I think [it’s] just the story of it this year a little bit,” Marchessault said. “I think we just let teams linger when we're in the lead and we're just satisfied to be one up, and we just hold and stop creating chances. And I think when you do that in the NHL, there's too many good teams in the League to let them linger. You’ve got to put teams away, and that's another one that I think slipped through our hands.”
“I think it was disappointing, especially to start the third period,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “it was kind of the message that, you know, first one to break… [it] was one of those tight-checking games, and it was going to be the team that kind of made a few mistakes… It's frustrating and it's disappointing, at the same time…disappointing that we broke there in the third.”
Marchessault’s goal was surely one of the easiest he’s ever scored as the puck took a bounce and fluttered into the air before landing in the crease. All Marchessault had to do was tap the puck behind Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll to give Nashville a 1-0 lead.
That score held through the game’s first two periods, but the Leafs scored three times in the first 5:06 of the final frame, including a pair of goals from Auston Matthews and one from William Nylander.
Jankowski brought the Preds back to within one after Nashville had a late push to challenge for the equalizer, but that was as close as they got to finish off the night.
The Predators will be right back on the ice tomorrow night in Montreal when they face the Canadiens at Bell Centre to conclude a back-to-back set, and they’ll be eager for a chance to make amends for Wednesday’s result.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to find a way to win some hockey games,” Marchessault said. “You want your game to be in a good spot at different times along the year, but I mean at the end of the day, you’ve got to find a way to get two points.”
“We’ve just got to regroup and go back to work,” Brunette said. “We're talking about winning the week, so an opportunity tomorrow to win a hockey game.”
Notes:
Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged on Wednesday night with Michael McCarron (IR, upper-body) and Jeremy Lauzon (week-to-week, lower-body) not dressed against Toronto. Forward Juuso Parssinen and defenseman Marc Del Gaizo were healthy scratches.
Per NHL PR, Jonathan Marchessault joined Artemi Panarin (810) and Mats Zuccarello (650) as the third active undrafted player to record 500 points.
The Predators will be in Montreal on Thursday night to conclude a back-to-back set by facing the Canadiens before finishing their swing through eastern Canada on Saturday night in Ottawa.
