"I liked our effort, I liked our compete, I thought just some of our puck execution wasn't at the level it needed to be," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "The execution where we turned some pucks over, that allowed them to gain some momentum, and then I thought some decisions, whether it was in the offensive zone where we turned some pucks over and easy breakouts or coming to the neutral zone; we've got to clean it up."
"I don't think it was our best game," Preds defenseman Mark Borowiecki said. "I thought they outplayed us for pretty long portions in the second period and tilted the ice there a little bit. They have so much offensive talent and power, but to our credit, I felt we defended hard. We were competitive the whole game. We worked, it certainly wasn't for lack of effort, but I still think it wasn't our best. So, some good things to take away, some bad things to take away, and the good thing is we've got a lot of confidence in our group that we're a strong team and we know we can bounce back."
Auston Matthews gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 7:37 of the first period on the power play as he went short side on Saros, and that score held through the game's opening 40 minutes and then some. But, with just under four minutes remaining in regulation, David Kampf extended the home team's lead to two, after the forward slid the puck under Saros's pads from beneath the left face-off circle.
Toronto added one more into an empty Nashville net before the night was done, and the Preds left the ice at Scotiabank Arena with just their second regulation loss in their last six tries.
As usual, Saros was excellent again on Tuesday and kept the game at 1-0 until there were just four minutes left to play in the final frame. The Predators had their opportunities too - Matt Duchene hit the post early in the second stanza, and Nashville continued to push in the third - but in a battle between the NHL's two hottest teams, Toronto ultimately prevailed.
"The things that hurt us tonight; the difference was we had some opportunities in the game where they had some sustained pressure, and I thought a lot of that was generated from us, through our execution with the puck and some of our decision making against a good offensive team," Hynes said. "If we can clean those couple areas up, we'll be better moving forward. Now, in saying that, I thought there were certain times where we had opportunities to be able to score that [would have gotten us a] little bit of momentum on the road or back that off a little bit, and when their [goalie] needed to make some big saves, he made them. So, we know what we have to fix over the next couple of days, and we'll get ready for Montreal."
That meeting with the Canadiens won't come until Saturday after Nashville's game in Ottawa on Thursday was postponed due to COVID issues with the Senators, so the Preds will instead look to take advantage of the time to get in an extra practice, rest and recover before the trip concludes this weekend.
"It's not necessarily a bad thing," Borowiecki, who is from Ottawa and played for the Senators before coming to Nashville, said. "I don't think my mom was really happy - she had a big lasagna planned for me and I was going to go over there for dinner - but there's always the pros and cons. As a father, you want to get home to your son and your wife, but you know, there's something to be said for being on the road as a group, I think early in the season. It's a cliche, but it's true. We didn't have the opportunity last year as much with the restrictions and stuff, so for us to be together as a group, it's a good chance to kind of gel and come together.
