The Nashville Predators have worked plenty of overtime lately but have yet to be rewarded. They will try to escape their rut when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
Nashville has lost three straight games 3-2 in overtime. Its latest sudden-death setback came on Saturday at Minnesota in the opener of a four-game road swing. The trip moves to three Canadian cities, with games against the Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators on tap.
The Predators are hunting ways to energize their offense. They have scored two goals in each loss of their current four-game skid.
“The last few games, we only scored two goals and it’s tough because (goaltender Juuse Saros) is playing outstanding, giving us a chance,” said Ryan O’Reilly, who scored a goal for Nashville on Saturday. “We can’t (get over) that hump, that next goal is huge for us. It’s frustrating, we get to OT and hopefully squeak it out there, and we just don’t right now, and it’s just extremely frustrating.
“Obviously, there’s some things with our effort that we have to be consistent with. But I know for myself, just as quick, it’s a mental reset, usually when you’re ready for this swing. And you know, it’s a great opportunity to go on this (Canadian) swing and get some points and kind of rejuvenate ourselves. The opportunity is there. We have to kind of reset, refocus, and come out, guns blazing in Toronto.”
The Predators exchanged backup goaltenders with the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday when they acquired Justus Annunen, 24, and a 2025 sixth-round pick for Scott Wedgewood, 32.
“We’re getting a goaltender that’s quite a bit younger,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “(Wedgewood) was a really good veteran, really good for us, was a good personality. We’ll probably miss that.”
The Maple Leafs have flourished since early November, winning nine of their last 11 games. Toronto has also won both games since Auston Matthews returned to the lineup after he missed nine contests with an upper-body injury.
Matthews had two assists in his return Saturday, a 5-3 win at Tampa Bay, and he scored the Maple Leafs’ first goal in Monday’s 4-1 home win over Chicago.
“Maybe not the cleanest game, definitely some things we can take away, but two points are two points,” said Matthews, who has 14 points in 15 games this season. “Just try to clean it up and just try to be better here in the next game.”
The Maple Leafs killed off four penalties, including a five-on-three situation for 28 seconds in the second period, while Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves. Mitchell Marner earned two assists to extend his points streak to seven games (five goals, eight assists).
“I thought we started off the way we wanted to and played our game,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said after Monday’s win. “Second period not so much, we just didn’t make a play, couldn’t win a battle, couldn’t advance the puck well enough.
“We just got hemmed in our own zone and then we took penalties, but our penalty kill was excellent and that was the difference in the game. And then our goalie, that’s what it boils down to.”
Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe (upper-body injury) did not play on Monday but participated in practice on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media